Team Kakashi B rank Mission: Backup Escort
by WoWAmazing58
Summary: An innocent backup mission with Team Kakashi complicates when Hebi kidnaps Sakura and her brattish kid escort Katin to bait Itachi. Surprisingly, Sakura's charm befriends the team. As she eventually begins to feel at home with Hebi... they realize they are only pawns in a greater scheme. [Sasusaku, minor NaruHina, ShikaIno]
1. Chapter 1: The risky backup mission

**Mission: Backup**

**A/N: **Story written because I wanted to bring Sasuke and Sakura back together in some sort of almost logical way. First fanfic, so please tell me how I did. Enjoy! :D

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto

Team Kakashi is sent on back-up mission involving a Hidden Village peace ambassador threatened by Akatsuki. Team Hebi kidnapped Sakura and Hidden Village ambassador's son to bait Itachi Uchiha. But a new enemy catches up to Sasuke and Sakura…

**Chapter one: The "risky" backup mission **

The low, orange sun was setting behind the Hidden Village of the Leaves as Sakura was summoned to the Hokage's office. She arrived to find Tsunade glaring at a growling Naruto, his fist on the edges of her wooden desk.

"This _is _a B-rank mission!" Tsunade shouted back. "So shut it, Naruto!"

"_Backup?!_ What kind of a lame mission is that?! Come on, Granny, it's been over months since you gave us any tough missions!" The blond boy whined. Then, he brightened as he turned and noticed Sakura standing at the doorway.

"Sakura-chan!" He grinned.

"Hey, Naruto." She smiled back. "Is it a new mission, Tsunade-sama?" She inquired, glad for the chance to do something outside the village. It wasn't that she didn't like working at the hospital, but she felt she needed to do something more exciting lately.

Lady Hokage leaned back in her seat, looking relieved at the arrival of Sakura to shut Naruto up. "Correct. I'm just waiting for Kakashi and Sai now, since Yamato is on currently on an ANBU mission." She explained calmly, and then glanced at the door behind the pink haired kunoichi. "Come in!"

"Naruto, Sakura," Kakashi greeted them the instant he opened the door, followed closely by Sai, their pale faced teammate. "It's been a while, eh?"

Sai smiled at them, recollecting his bruise the last time he saw Sakura.

"Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sai, I hereby order you on back-up mission for the ANBU escort team sent to accompany Harushi Otamake, peace ambassador from the Hidden Mist Village, and his son, Katin Otamake." Her hazel eyes glinted seriously behind her folded hands in front of her face.

"Hai!" The nins answered in unison, Naruto a little dejectedly, before patiently awaiting additional information, since the Hokage made no move to dismiss them.

The blond woman's eyes were still serious. Then she suddenly sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "It has been a while since _he _left, hasn't it? Was it two years?"

Sakura blinked, then stiffened, and her jaw clenched. Naruto's bright blue eyes dulled as he balled his fists. Sai remained expressionless, but Tsunade thought she saw Kakashi's eyes narrow slightly. There was no doubt whom she was talking about. The boy who betrayed Konoha two years ago, who used to be part of the former Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha. A sore topic around what was left of the three-man cell and their sensei.

"We've just received evidence Harushi Otamake could be a target to the Akatsuki for some unknown reason, though there's a hint it's in relation to his son, Katin."

Naruto's head shot up, but he had a confused look on his face. "Huh?"

Sakura made the connections quickly. "If the Akatsuki was involved, that meant Itachi Uchiha is likely in it too. And since Sasuke-kun was always chasing after his older brother, there was a chance they would encounter each other. And us."

A small, hopeful bubbled tugged at the edge of her thoughts. "So there is a chance for Sasuke's retrieval in this mission?" But quickly, another worry took over. She frowned. "But if it's the Akatsuki, wouldn't Naruto…?" She glanced tentatively at the whiskered boy.

"Aw, come on! We can take them!" He punched the air, shouting, "Believe it!" They saw a crowd of birds take off into the sky from the room's window.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Naruto! _Shut up_."

The blond boy quickly dropped his arm. "Hai, Sakura-chan." He smiled weakly, knowing first hand the force of Sakura's punches once she got annoyed.

Tsunade sighed wearily and rubbed her temples. "Of Sasuke, there is a chance, but around 5 percent. As for the Akatsuki, I've already talked it over with Kakashi, and it seems the situation is quite benign. This could very likely be a prankster, since the Akatsuki does not usually send notes warning their subject they are about to hunt them down. Besides, there are three ANBU black ops in addition to Team Kakashi sent on the mission at first, even though they're quite new." A thought crossed her face, but passed instantly. "Besides, most other chunin squads and jounin are currently all unavailable right now. If you encounter _him, _don't be rash." Her gaze was directed at Naruto. "He is a missing nin right now, and was strong enough to kill Orochimaru."

"Well, I'm going to drag that bastard back even if it takes me my life! I've gotten stronger too!" Naruto growled, clenching his fists. "No way _I'm_ giving up!"

Sakura nodded as she took a step closer to her blond friend. "I'm with Naruto. If there is a chance, we will try our best to bring him back, perhaps by force if necessary." Her face was hard with barely concealed pain. _So that's why she sent us on a B-rank mission, whereas we are fully qualified for an A-rank or higher. Sasuke retrieval. _

Tsunade seemed satisfied. "Remember, mission comes first above all as your duty to the village." She reminded them, then smirked. "But good luck anyways. Dismissed."

"Hai." The four man squad bowed in unison, and filed to go outside. Sakura, the last to leave, paused at the doorway, a dark gloved hand resting on the wooden frame. "Thank you."

Back inside the office, the Hokage smiled.

The four silent nin hopped nimbly from branch to branch, their speed leaving blurs of silver, black, yellow and pink on the dark, uneven trunks. They were all wordlessly sunk into their own thoughts. Naruto was going over all the jutsus he had learned in the past two years, while Sai was thinking about something he read from a textbook about friendship.

Kakashi was thinking about the contents of his little orange book _Icha Icha Paradise_. _I wonder what happens after Mikosu arrives at Kashimaru's house just to find—Uh, this isn't really appropriate for the public audience, is it? I—Hey, you can't narrate my thoughts! _

Uh, it's not like I'd really like to hear them, anyways. Moving on…

Sakura's thoughts were deep too, ranging from being worried to anger. Would Sasuke still look the same? She knew Naruto hadn't changed that much after his two year trip except get unbelievably taller, and she herself didn't notice any significant changes in her own face, but then again. How would they know it's him?

Is he still blindly set on revenge on his brother? If they meet, will he kill them in cold blood? What would happen?! Her mind was in frenzy, analysing possibilities, turning facts over in her mind. _Stop it, Sakura, _she scolded herself. _You're not going to be facing him alone, and you may not even meet him at all. Tsunade-sama said it was only 5 percent chance, right? _

_Fate. _The word echoed in her mind. What_ is fate? _She wondered bitterly. _Betraying your village for some fifty-year-old creep? Your only goal in life being killing your sibling? Never able to forget the past and grasp the future? Would that be fate? Does he know how much we are suffering? How much our friends are suffering? _

Kakashi threw out an arm suddenly, and the other three stopped instantly.

"Blood." Sai, the least occupied, noted quickly with a frown.

They hopped down nimbly to witness a bloody scene. It was set in a clearing surrounded by trees and thick, green undergrowth. A tall ANBU with brown hair had blood steadily trickling out of a deep chest wound. His mask was cracked down the middle, and smeared with blood. His right arm seemed to serve as a kunai dartboard. Sakura winced as she rushed forward to heal them. Her hands blazed with green chakra as she placed her palms flat on the man's chest.

Another ANBU, directly across from the first, was practically nailed to a tree with shurikens. The clearing seemed empty except for the two unfortunate, bleeding ninjas.

However, there was also another source of chakra coming from behind a bush. The team drew their kunai and hovered in a half circle around Sakura, who was rapidly healing the first ANBU.

"Who's there?" Kakashi asked calmly.

The tension was tangible as no one replied. In the distance, a flock of birds flew into the air. Then, a small boy with large black eyes and a spiky mass of black hair glanced out from under the bush. Noting their Leaf Village headbands, he crept out cautiously. He was wearing a scowl topped with a suspicious expression.

"Who are you?" He demanded, back hunched and hands balled into furious little fists.

"Ninjas from the Leaf Village." Kakashi replied with a faint smile, replacing his kunai as the rest did the same. "What's your name?"

The small, short boy was silent for a moment, suspicion still written all over his face, before breaking into a faint smile himself. "My name is..." He paused as a slight frown creased his forehead. "Shikamaru Nara." He said finally, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice try, kid." Kakashi said with his arms crossed, now positively grinning.

Naruto squinted, then shouted as jumped up and pointed he pointed a finger at him. "No, you're not! You're not Shikamaru!" Then, he peered at his face, confused. "Wait, are you?"

Kakashi sweat dropped. _I thought I just made it clear it was a test. _

The nervous boy laughed in relief as he relaxed visibly. "Nope. So you're really from the Leaf Village, then." He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, that was the only name I could remember. I'm Katin Otamake, son of Harushi, who hired Konoha ninja a few days ago for the escort mission. Pleased to meet you."

_That kid sounds...almost grownup. _Sakura mused for a second as she glanced up from her patient.

"Yes, we know about that. We were sent by the Fifth Hokage to continue to escort you to your destination." Kakashi said. "I'm Kakashi, and these are my students, Naruto, Sai and Sakura. Tell us what happened. Where's your father?" He asked.

"He was carried off by—" Katin stiffened. "Two scary men. Father told me to hide in the bush, so they didn't find me. One had black hair, one white-ish hair." He recollected uncertainly. "But I'm not sure." He added unhelpfully.

Kakashi nodded grimly, a slight theory forming in his mind. It was not a pleasant one. "Anything remarkable about the one with black hair?" He inquired.

Katin frowned, then his eyes widened. "He had red eyes with little creepy triangles. And he was really scary. He said something like, 'Kill him, so we can leave.' In a really creepy voice."

Naruto choked. On air. Sai smacked him sympathetically on the back. Though it only made it worse. "No…way…he…would…Ow…" Naruto coughed out.

The ambassador's son looked at Naruto like he was stupid. "What kind of a ninja _are_ you?" He asked in disgust, crossing his arms in disdain.

Naruto glared underneath his yellow flop of hair. "The kind that can kick your little butt!" He managed to choke out. His face was turning red.

"What did you say?! How dare you!" Katin shrieked, jumping to his feet.

Kakashi smiled apologetically as he reached to cover Naruto's loud mouth. "Nothing. He said…uh, I really, really like your haircut!"

Sai was trying to help. "You should calm down… shortie." He advised the boy.

The furious boy jumped back up. "I am _not_ short!" He shouted, still jumping up and down. "Take that back!"

Sai sighed. "Never mind." _Maybe characteristics are not so friendly after all. That would be strike three, after Naruto and Sakura. _

"Is this some sort of sick joke, kidnapping my father and killing my escorts to replace them with some random weirdoes?" The brown haired boy shouted, still in tantrum mode.

Kakashi faced him with an embarrassed smile. "I can assure you we can accomplish missions well." He calmed the still hopping boy. "Where's the third ANBU?" He asked suddenly.

Katin froze in mid-tantrum. He looked mystified, then confused as he dropped down on the grass. "I don't know… He left before the two ninjas came, I think!"

Naruto had quieted down by now, and Sakura had moved on to the next ANBU, only half listening to their conversations.

"What did he look like?" Sai asked intently.

"Uh, he had a mask, so I'm not so sure, but green eyes, brown hair, I'd say. With a long scar on his left arm, from shoulder to elbow."

Sai was quiet for a moment, his face emotionless and smooth. However, they could sense he was struggling with a decision inside. Finally, his mouth muttered two words. "Definitely Root."

Kakashi frowned, narrowing the eye that wasn't covered by his headband. _I remember the Hokage saying something about that. This is bad. Does this mean Danzou's involved?_

"Naruto, Sai, you will follow me. It'll be suspicious if he arrives without his team, so it's likely he would be heading in the opposite direction of Konoha now. Sai, send word to Lady Hokage about this, tell her what we found out and that we need a medic team to retrieve these two. Wait for the medic team, Sakura, and leave Katin for them to bring back to Konoha. When that's done, follow our trail. Careful, everyone. This is now an A-rank mission." Kakashi ordered.

Naruto punched the air enthusiastically. "All right! Bring it!"

Sai returned a second later. He left before the others had noticed. "Word sent." He reported.

The silver-haired man turned back to Sakura. "Be careful, Sakura." He advised, before leaping into the trees.

Sakura nodded curtly beside the second ANBU. "Hai."

Sai smiled and waved as he followed Kakashi into the thick vegetation.

"Take care, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled back, waving a hand before following Sai. Then, he turned back and waved again.

Sakura smiled. "We'll be fine, Naruto. Just get going." She told him. After they disappeared, she stood up and wiped her forehead on her arm.

**A/N: **(Bouncing up and down excitedly) So what do you think? :) This is my first fanfic, as I said before, so I am hoping it will turn out well. I...am fairly satisfied about how this first chapter turned out, I would say, but you are the real judge here. :) Hope you enjoyed. Chapter 2 is underway currently. Please preview and have a great day. (Well, have a great day either way, really, but just have a...greater day if you preview!) Thanks.

**Amazing58 **


	2. Chapter 2: The past returns

**Chapter 2: The past returns **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

"You're done already?" Katin piped up, watching Sakura walk into the thick bushes. "Well, are you?" He asked again nervously, when she didn't answer a minute later.

"Yes." Sakura sighed as she crossed the clearing calmly, sitting down with her back to a tree facing Katin. "Now all we have to do is wait." She closed her eyes with another sigh. She needed to regain as much of her chakra as possible, even just a little, in case for another attack. Even she had to admit it was highly unlikely, but there seemed to be a looming premonition somewhere in her mind.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be watching me?" A small voice whined.

She opened an eye quizzically, looking somewhat like Kakashi. She smiled kindly at his panicked expression. "Don't worry. I've laid traps around here only Konoha ninja should be able to deactivate." _Or at least, I hope. _She added mentally. _No need to let him know that. The kid will have a heart attack. _

There was a brief silence.

"Is ANBU your highest rank?" He asked suddenly.

"Uh, sort of. There's always the Hokage, but yeah, I guess." Sakura replied with her eyes still closed. "Why?"

The furious boy slumped down. "What a useless bunch." He muttered darkly. "Can't even save my father. Lets a useless, lazy girl keep guard of _me_…"

Sakura's eyes flew open, and she was across the clearing in an instant. She shoved Katin behind a bush.

"What are you—" He started to yell, before Sakura covered his mouth with her hand.

"Ninja coming." She whispered absently, frowning. "Be quiet." _His or her chakra is immense, which means they're probably not the medic team. Damn. More trouble. _

"Isn't that good?" He started, until a look of comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh. Never mind."

She looked at him straight in the eye as she grabbed his shoulders. "You have to trust us Leaf Village ninjas. We would give our lives to protect you until the end. Listen." She hurried on intently, "No matter what they do or I do, don't come out of hiding. In the worst case scenario, hide this in your shirt, and use it if you have to." She handed him a cold, sharp object in the dim undergrowth.

"But what if they find me, and I can't use the sword thing?" Katin squeaked, sweat beading on his forehead.

Sakura smiled grimly. "I will put my life on the line to protect you, don't worry. I'm going to be away briefly to distract him. Or her. The medic team will be here soon anyways. In the worst case, just run. There's a cave around the eastern side of the forest."

"It sounds like you face death situations every day." The small boy whispered, then gulped. "All right. I won't move."

Sakura patted his head in a motherly way, and smiled absently. "I hope you see your father soon." She added kindly before disappearing into the thicker forest.

A few minutes later, a figure dropped into the clearing without activating any traps. He was wearing an old fashioned white robe with a tube-like belt and darker pants.

He stood emotionlessly in the clearing for a while, before suddenly turning and aiming a shuriken high towards a tree branch behind him, where Sakura caught it neatly with two fingers. She had plopped herself behind a thick conifer tree directly opposite Katin's hideout.

The figure turned slightly to glance at the two ANBU bodies briefly, but did not rotate fully around to face the kunoichi.

Sakura thought there was something familiar about the stranger, but didn't ponder on it as she jumped down neatly from her hiding spot unto the grass.

She started to crouch and brace the kunai in front of her protectively, but then a shocked gasp came from her lips as she nearly dropped the weapon. The stranger turned around. Her breath came out in ragged gasps as she glimpsed the familiar face. "Sa…" She started. "_Sas…ke…kun…_" She choked out, nearly gagging like Naruto.

Her face was a mask of complete surprise, every possible emotion going through her mind. Is this really Sasuke? She _must_ been dreaming.

"Sakura." He said emotionlessly, his hand not leaving the grip of his katana.

She didn't like the way his voice seemed to radiate with coldness and the way he said her name like he was just introduced to her. With a startled shock, she realized this could be a death battle with Sasuke, their lost teammate, the one she had been worrying non-stop about by day and having nightmares about by night. Tears threatened to overflow in her deep green eyes.

Sakura walked a step tentatively towards him, mostly relying on instinct than consciousness. She felt as if she was floating on a cloud. "Why… are you here?" She whispered, not trusting her entire voice. Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with the notion to cry, but also to hug him. Then, both emotions were overwhelmed by a slow trickle of anger.

"Where's the boy?" He asked calmly, as if he never knew her. "We need him."

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "You…" Her voice was thick. She cleared her throat. "Why do you need _him_? You have his father, don't you?"

The smallest of a frown appeared on Sasuke's marble face. "No, you must be mistaken. We just want the boy, and we have never touched his father."

Resisting the urge to laugh hysterically at this surreal situation, Sakura shook her head. "The…someone saw a black haired ninja with Sharigan and a white haired ninja abducted the child's father…" She frowned, since it was evident now Sasuke never remembered being here before.

"Lying wastes my time." Sasuke's cold voice cut through the thick atmosphere. "If you are going to lie, you might as well die." His grip on his katana tightened. "I'm going to ask you one more time, Sakura: where is the boy?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes. This was no happy reunion. He would not hesitate to kill her if she stood in the way, no matter how much she cared for him. That she would probably sacrifice her life willingly for him. She had to grasp the truth now, because she could not hand over the boy and betray her duty. She had two choices: fight, or wait for the medic nins to arrive and stall for time.

"If you want him, you'll have to go through me_._" She said finally. "Unlike you, I can't abandon my duty to the village and to the boy." She added softly as she held the kunai in two fingers and tightened the dark glove against her hand.

Sasuke looked at her coldly. "Forgetting the past is sometimes healthier for the future." He said.

"The past." She smiled sadly. "Without the past, there is no future."

"Forget the damn past, and grasp the present, Sakura. _Go._" He hissed.

"No, though I could say the same for you about Itachi." She paused, unsure of voicing her thoughts. Finally, she asked softly, "Are you really going to kill me?"

"Only if you stand in my way."

"You can't go another way, can you?" Sakura looked at him bitterly. "_Still _bent on revenge on Itachi?"

"I can't ignore my path as an avenger." Sasuke said through gritted teeth, his grip now turning his knuckles white.

"And I can't ignore my path as a dutiful ninja of the Hidden Leaf." Sakura countered. "But _you_ can walk another path." She looked at him, her eyes full of pity and pleading. "You can still walk away. You never _had _to do anything. You never _had _to leave Konoha or kill Itachi. Don't you get it? Do you know how many people are suffering because of you?" She whispered as her grip slacked on her kunai. It fell to the forest floor. Her knees felt weak, her legs numb.

Sasuke remained silent for a moment, his eyes suddenly flickering red. "I never asked these people to suffer for me. It's their own problem." He said apathetically. "I have my own goals, and they will not involve Konoha ever again."

The two nins, facing each other, stood in silence. A stray wind blew by, fluttering numerous leaves from trees. The kunoichi's pink hair fluttered in the breeze as she thought of the number of things she wanted to say, but knew she could not. The tears she held back stung her eyes as she thought of Naruto and his promise, various of Rookie 9 who willingly participated in the Sasuke retrieval mission and almost gotten killed, and her own time spent endlessly on training to improve. To prove she was _not_ weak.

Sakura closed her eyes painfully, and reopened them a minute later. "I can't give you the boy. You will have to fight me." She declared softly, and looked up again through determined green eyes. "I'm going to stop you this time."

The black haired nin smirked. "I've given you a chance to live, which you ignored for a worthless mission. I'm not going to let you stop me, because I have broken all the bonds with Konoha I ever had. If you are still going to stand in my way, I'm really going to have to kill you."

"Then kill me!" Sakura screamed as she charged, whipping a new kunai from her pouch, tears flowing out of her eyes. The liquid crystals shone in the air for a brief minute as the wind carried them away from her face. "Take me away from this agony!"

In a flash, her hands were held against her back, the second kunai fell, useless, as Sasuke hit a pressure point on her wrist.

She could feel him smirk behind her back. "I told you I'm not going to let you stop me…" He paused. "After all this time, you're still weak, Sakura. It is nearly a pity I have to finish you so soon." She felt him draw out the katana, its sharp blade hissing as it slid out of its sheath.

Sakura closed her eyes. "I've never imagined you would do this, Sasuke." She had dropped the admiring suffix on his name. "I'm sorry, for you. That you had become this way."

A figure jumped out from the shadows. "Don't kill her!" A loud voice squealed. "If you do…I'll…I'll kill myself!" Katin cried, holding out the kunai.

Sakura frowned as her eyes flashed open. "Get out of here, Katin! I can handle this!" She snapped, truly angry now.

"No, you can't! He's got a sword at your neck, and you're still trying to tell him about philosophy?" The little boy stomped his feet. "You, bastard, let go of Sakura-neechan! Or else!" He shouted, sounding a touch like Naruto. The boy pointed the kunai aggressively at himself. "It's me you want, right? I'll kill myself!"

Sasuke watched this warily, still holding Sakura's wrists captive with one hand and wielding his sword in the other.

The pink haired nin stood still, bewilderment grazing her features at the courageous little boy, before shaking her head sadly. "Katin. If I give my life today, it would be to protect you. Now, you're just making that even pointless." She told him.

Suddenly, in a flash, her hands glowed green. As Sasuke swung his sword to where her neck was a second ago, two deep wounds have already been left on his exposed chest. Sakura back flipped to stand in front of the little brown-haired boy, grinning crookedly. "So it's a good thing I don't plan on dying today." She finished. "Sasuke, I'm not going to hold back, even if I'm sure, that somewhere inside that cold shell, my old teammate is hidden there. Before revenge for his brother took over." Her triumphant smile disappeared.

"I told you Leaf Village ninjas were reliable." She added to Katin without turning.

"Oh." The little boy muttered, putting the kunai carefully back in his shirt.

"Thanks, though." She said with a wider grin. "That was very impressive."

Sasuke, ignoring his deep but non-fatal wounds, was beside her in a flash of speed, swinging his katana with precision at her neck. Sakura's kunai appeared in her hand, as she braced it at her ear against the sharp metal blade. Sasuke hopped back, and Sakura followed immediately, aiming to put as much distance between him and the boy as possible.

His red eyes tracking her movements even before she did them, Sasuke dodged her chakra-filled punches easily. However, she managed to dodge his swings as well. Suddenly, Sakura was left standing alone as her opponent abruptly vanished.

A flood of shurikens abruptly attacked from her left, as Sakura skilfully deflected them all with her kunai. As she was occupied, a kunai flew out from her front. At the last second, she suddenly realized there was another one that was being shadowed by the preceding kunai, making it invisible to the victim until the last minute. That is, except for a glimpse of extra shadow behind the first kunai. Absently remembering this as a technique Sasuke had mastered at a young age, Sakura caught the first one and rapidly used it to deflect the second one.

The clearing was empty and silent once more. Sakura was hardly panting as she stood in the center of a mass of shurikens and one kunai lying on the ground.

Instinctively, she prepared to jump back to check on her young charge. Before she got there, she heard a loud crackling beside her as a trail of lightning stretched out from the trees on her left. Before she had time to think the action through, she had landed a chakra-filled punch on ground, spreading the earth beside her wide open.

The Chidori-based lightning trail dropped uselessly below, as a white figure landed on the other side of the deep trench she had artificially created.

The handsome dark-haired nin crouched defensively, his face hidden. She thought she saw his hands move inside his large sleeves, but didn't recognize the jutsu he performed. He suddenly straightened. As Sasuke's red, swirling eyes glanced up, Sakura glimpsed a subtle glimmer of emotions on his smooth face.

Then, suddenly, his smooth mask slid off and there was fear in his onyx eyes as he stared at the left side of the forest.

Before she could register the emotions, she was overcome with the vision of a white room. It was rectangular shaped, with identical rhombus patterns filling the walls and floors. It was absolutely white and empty. Until a figure nudged her from the side.

"Katin!" She exclaimed in surprise. "What're you doing here?"

The little boy looked confused. "I don't know. One moment I was there…and then…here."


	3. Chapter 3: Stuck in a genjutsu

**Chapter 3: Stuck in a genjutsu**

**AN: I changed Chapter 2 slightly because the previous version was a bit messed up because the system wouldn't let me save my editing of it. Anyways, thanks for the reviews, guys! :D I really appreciate it! So about Sasuke's fear, that seems to be a common question. I'm going to explain it later, probably in the next, uh, ten chapters? I've finished a few more chapters, but they're still in rough draft state, so might be a while before I post them. (Sheepish grin) Sorry updates are taking so long. Complicated matters. ;) So, please enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

Sakura shook her head. "It's my entire fault, I'm sorry. I should have protected you better. I should have _known_." She gritted her teeth.

"Known what? I don't see how it's your fault!" The brown haired boy insisted. "In fact, that was so awesome!" He punched his little fists, a big grin stretched on his face. "Pow! That was a wicked punch!"

"Wasn't wicked enough to stop us getting trapped in a genjutsu. Dammit."

"Oh!" Katin's face brightened even more. "So we're _not_ dead?"

Sakura smiled. "Me, I may be, but you, no. Sasuke needs you to bait the damn Akatsuki to kill his damn brother to get his damn revenge." She kicked a white wall, which gave the feeling of rubber. Though, strangely, there seemed to be no illusion beside the white room. This confused Sakura, as she had been taught about genjutsus that made you remember painful things and chopped body parts off.

"If he dares…" She muttered darkly under her breath, then stopped. "I guess he does dare. After all, my real body now is probably limp on the ground, waiting for his stupid sword to chop it up. That's it! I can't believe he's turned into this…piece of metal killing machine. If I ever get out of this…I swear!"

"I definitely can get us out of here." She added confidently. "Hold unto me." She formed a single hand formation.

"Release!"

Nothing happened.

"Dammit. My patience is running low, bastard. RELEASE!"

Nothing happened.

"Screw you, Sasuke!" She finally lost it as she yelled and kicked the white wall again. "You and your stupid Sharigan, your stupid Chidori, and your stupid emotionless attitude. I can't believe what everyone went through for you! What I went through! Ugh!" She punched and kicked and practically killed the poor white wall. She felt better after. It was the first time in a while her emotions have gotten properly unleashed.

"You're kinda scary. I'm really sorry I called you useless…" A familiar voice whined.

Sakura blushed, and grinned, embarrassed. "Oh. Heh. Right. Sorry you had to see that. But don't worry, I'll get us out of here. Somehow."

Now she had given up the hope of breaking free of the genjutsu anytime soon, she and Katin began to scrutinize the room, looking for a way out. After what appeared an endless time of searching, they found no exits.

"So how did we get in here?" The boy inquired in frustration.

"Genjutsu is an illusion, to put it simply. Usually, it's used as an offensive attack too, since it battles the enemy from the inside rather than the outside. Even if you are trapped for a short time, it could seem like days." The kunoichi explained.

"So what does it do?" He asked.

"Uh." She glanced at him dubiously. "How old are you?"

"Ten."

She blinked. "Wow. OK, then. I won't go into details. Let's just say they make you see and feel very bloody things. Tortures, most likely." She saw his panicked expression, and hastily added. "But it's all in your mind. And it's not going to happen to us. Uh. I hope." She coughed uncomfortably at the thought of her and Katin watching their arms fall off and dissolve into snakes, and then… never mind.

"Why not? That creepy guy with the red eyes, who was definitely lying when he said he didn't take my father, he seems like a serial killer to me. You said he wanted to kill his _brother_, right? And that's family!"

Sakura smiled bitterly. "As much as I regret saying this in his defense, it's not like that. At a young age, his brother Itachi slaughtered his entire clan. He left only one young boy alive." She glanced ruefully at the little boy. "So Sasuke has been training extremely hard ever then, always the top of the class in the Ninja Academy. After, in order to gain more power—" Here, she added with sarcastic finger quotes, "—he went willingly to Orochimaru, an evil man who was trying to—" She remembered his age "—uh, do bad things in the world. All this to avenge his clan." She sighed.

There was a brief minute of silence. "Wow." Katin whispered. "Poor Sasuke. But his whole clan? Why?"

Sakura could help but smile at the boy's sudden change of opinion towards Sasuke. She thought for a moment. "I'm not sure why. I've never asked him before and I don't think he would have answered if I did. But my guess is it's something to do with his Sharigan. His family blood limit." She explained, plopping down on the cushion-like floor beside the boy.

"Blood limit? How does that work?" He asked, fascinated. His black eyes grew wide. Looking into them, Sakura suddenly realized they looked just like Sasuke's eyes. Quickly pushing that sad thought away before it could hurt her more, she answered his question.

"Uh, well. It's passed down from generations." She started slowly. "For example, if your father had the Sharigan, which would have came from _his _father, passed on from _his _grandfather, then you would also have it. As well as your sisters, if you had any sisters. So basically any children you have after will have the Sharigan. Does that make sense?" She asked.

"Hm." Katin slowly nodded, his brown eyes becoming bright with thought. "So," He said after a while. "If Sasuke died without marrying, then there would be no more Sharigan users?"

"Correct."

Another pause.  
"Then he should marry you! Then, there will be more Sharigan users and they will have your wicked smashy skills! See? And then you'll also be happy!"

A longer pause.

"What the _hell_ did you just say?"

"What? I'm just pointing out the obvious." A small shrug.

Another pause.

"OK. I meant, **WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!**"

"But you like him, right? And he didn't actually kill you in the end."

"I…" Sakura looked at the white floor, frowning, as the anger went out of her. "Even if the first part may be true, I'm not so sure about the killing part if he got the chance. It's a bit more complicated than that. I once did like him. More than like. For a long time." She smiled sadly, remembering their nostalgic genin days.

"But he's different now."She whispered as she felt moisture begin to well up once more. "He doesn't seem human anymore. I mean, sure, he was always a bit cold before, but he had always shown he had a heart. For Naruto and maybe even me. But he tried to kill Naruto when he tried to stop him from leaving. He apprenticed with Orochimaru, of all the nasty people out there. And I have no clue how many people he has killed during that time…Aren't you a bit young for this, Katin?"

"If you say so." He grinned as he leant against the white wall. "But seriously, Sakura-neechan, that's deep. It does sound kinda complicated. I'm dead tired anyways. If we're not going to find a way out, then I'm going to sleep."

Sakura sighed as she tiredly rubbed her forehead. "Go ahead." The words of this boy have left a deep imprint in her thoughts, and she had much to think about. When she looked up, however, the boy was gone.

Frantic, she bounced up from the pale floor. "Katin!" She shouted, as she felt the white room sank beneath her, dissolving into foam.

-OOO-

AN: Yeah, I'm a Sasusaku fan, as I said before, so I'll be trying to add some romance in here. This was a pretty sad attempt at it, I know, but still, I had to try. :) Couldn't resist. ;) But they will truly be officially together at close to the end, though. After all, you can't treasure what you've always had, right? So there's going to be some rough patches.

Ohh...I just realized something. This is a cliffhanger, isn't it? Hmm...I'm not being very nice, am I? ;) I just found out on the number of words thing that this is a pretty short chapter. OK, a brief preview of chapter 4 then... :D

Please review to help me make this story something we will all enjoy. :D Tell me what you think, criticisms, compliments, whatever. Thanks! :D

**CHAPTER 4: Unstuck from the genjutsu--but stuck with Hebi (some part in the beginning)**

"Suigetsu's carrying the kid." Sasuke finally answered bluntly. "Shut up."

"Then why are you carrying me?" She asked tentatively, utterly confused. "You could've just killed me back there."

"_Back there _was where you were three days ago. We are approaching _here_ now." He replied as he nimbly leapt unto another branch. Sakura could feel the wind rushing by.

"You've been carrying me for three days?" She shrieked. "While I was being drugged in your stupid genjutsu? You—"

"Calm down, cherry blossom. We kept going straight for the past three days. Nothing happened. Your Konoha med-nins probably already found the ANBU and took them back, we kept on going, and we will be there soon." Another voice said smoothly from behind her.

Craning her neck upwards, she could see a ninja with white hair and pale skin and carrying a large sword, grinning at her with very sharp teeth. He had the unconscious little boy slung over his shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4: Stuck with Hebi

**Chapter 4: Unstuck from the genjutsu—but stuck with Hebi **

**(The title was too long to fit into the little select chapter thingy at the top right, so in there, it's just "Stuck with Hebi") **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**AN: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! :D Unto Chapter 4!**

Sakura opened her eyes slowly to a rocking motion. _Am I moving?_ She wondered groggily. Then, she realized she was slung over like a bag of potatoes on Sasuke's back.

He was carrying her! _What happened? _She frantically tried to recall as she slammed her fists on his back. "You bastard! Let me go or I'll kill you!"

He stayed silent.

"Now!"

She smacked his back with her palm furiously.

He grimaced as her hand hit the small needle wound that had been bothering him for days, but otherwise remained silent.

Thankfully, Sakura soon gave up trying. "Wait. Where's Katin?" She asked suddenly. "And honestly, what part of 'let me go or I'll kill you' don't you understand?!"

"Suigetsu's carrying the kid." Sasuke finally answered bluntly. "Shut up."

"Then why are you carrying me?" She asked tentatively, utterly confused. "You could've just killed me back there."

"_Back there _was where you were three days ago. We are approaching _here_ now." He replied as he nimbly leapt unto another branch. Sakura could feel the wind rushing by.

"You've been carrying me for three days?" She shrieked. "While I was being drugged in your stupid genjutsu? You—"

"Calm down, cherry blossom. We kept going straight for the past three days. Nothing happened. Your Konoha med-nins probably already found the ANBU and took them back, we kept on going, and we will be there soon." Another voice said smoothly from behind her.

Craning her neck upwards, she could see a ninja with white hair and pale skin and carrying a large sword, grinning at her with very sharp teeth. He had the unconscious little boy slung over his shoulder.

"I think I skipped your introduction." She growled up at him. "And you are?"

"Suigetsu." He made a little bow while leaping from another branch. "And you're the famous Sakura. Pleased to meet you."

"I'm not." She grunted, feeling melancholy at her vulnerable position.

"We're here." Sasuke's voice said from beside her waist.

"Oh, joy." Sakura said sarcastically, trying to wave her arms behind Sasuke's back. "Just wonderful. I'll be introduced to the rest of your criminal friends now."

"Criminal friends? Ouch, I'm hurt." Suigetsu drawled mockingly.

She did not see Sasuke's frown as they hopped down from the branches into the outskirts of a small town, it seemed. A roadway opened up to them out of the forest path.

"You'll have to walk now. It'd be suspicious if I carried you here." Sasuke said as he unceremoniously dumped her down on the ground.

Sakura picked herself up with as much dignity as she could muster and leapt into a crouch with her fists in front of her, ignoring her numb muscles. "Why didn't you kill me? What happened? And…" Her eyes widened as she noticed the large, bloody cuts that covered his non-sword arm in addition to the two she had inflicted on his bare chest. She stared at Sasuke wordlessly, worry washing over her irritation. "What happened to you?"

He looked at her warily for a moment, before carefully tucking his wounded arm in his large sleeve and replying. "I didn't kill you because I needed you as a hostage. They didn't know the boy, and you were conveniently trapped in the genjutsu. I used you to back them off."

She slowly took a moment to take all this in. She frowned. "You used me to back off Konoha ninja?" She summarised. "But kept me for the whole journey back to your lair? What the hell do you want?"

"I would've thought it was obvious." Suigetsu declared from the back with a wicked grin, looking Sakura up and down.

Sasuke frowned. "Somehow, I liked you better when you were trapped inside a container, Suigetsu." He paused. "_My reason_ was that we could use a medical nin for a while."

"Give me a break," Suigetsu said, still grinning, "Medical nin, same thing. It just depends where you want her to check up—whoa, calm, cherry blossom!"

Sakura, now her fury towering three stories above her, advanced threateningly towards the pale ninja. He gulped and the jesting smile vanished.

"What did you just say?!" She raised a fist, expecting it to glow with chakra. Instead, it remained flesh coloured. She turned her lethal gaze to Sasuke. "What exactly did you do, you emo bastard?" She asked calmly and quietly.

That same deadly voice Tsunade used before the time she nearly killed Jiraiya.

Sasuke crossed his arms, unaffected by the obvious threat. "My genjutsu sucked your chakra dry. You won't get it back in two days. Therefore, you can't escape."

Sakura dropped her arm and her lower mouth.

Two days! She was in the presence of two at least A-ranked missing nins, both male, and she is deprived of her chakra, the essence of all her jutsus?

"So…how am I supposed to, I don't know, heal you?" She asked loudly as she felt the fury that had been building up releasing. "Or defend myself against ugly men like you two?! What if we get attacked? I get to sit around while you people desert me with your speedy chakra getaways! What the hell were you thinking, Sasuke?!"

"It will only be for a _short_ while. Maybe even a day in your case. You can use your taijutsu." He stared back with a levelled gaze. "Now shut up."

"Define _short_." She snapped, as she glared at him. Then, her gaze roamed to his injuries again, and her green eyes filled with concern. "And how _did _you get your injuries?"

"It's getting late. We should hurry. Are you going to make a decision?"

Sakura turned her gaze to the ground. "I don't have much of a choice here, do I?" She pointed out softly, meeting his eyes even though she was a good foot shorter.

"No." He agreed.

"Your mysterious injuries will need someone to tend to, after all, and a med nin's responsibility is anyone that needs medical attention, regardless of their village backgrounds." She said carefully. "Or if they're a bastard or not. I'll see when I can get my chakra back."

"Good choice." Sasuke replied coldly. "Your alternative was not pleasant."

She frowned hard at the two nins for a silent moment, and then broke the gaze to glance at the bustling, small town.

"Is there no way I can convince you to go back?" She asked bitterly, still staring at the town.

There was a long pause.

"No."

A longer pause.

Sakura sighed, turning to the town to hide her tear filled eyes. "Nothing else I can do then. But think about what you're doing. To _us_. You're a coward, and it's about time someone told you." She said coldly, turning, using her forearm to quickly wipe away her tears. She started numbly into the busy, bustling town. After a few steps, she felt no one behind her. Her eyes were now safely dry again. She whirled around in confusion.

Suigetsu and Sasuke were both frozen at the opening of the village. The white haired ninja was looking between her and Sasuke with what looked like surprise and more confusion. Sasuke himself was staring at her, his onyx, gaze level but seemed to be filled with some sort of inner emotion she couldn't quite identify. Was it regret? Or anger? She wondered absently.

Abruptly, Sasuke seemed to shake himself out of his mental trance and frowned as he walked towards the town. Suigetsu followed a few steps after, looking bewildered.

He made a mental note to ask Sakura about this the first chance he's got with her, since he figured asking Sasuke would be like asking a piece of sharp metal. It would not answer his questions and instead would jump up and slice him in half.

"That's our stop." Suigetsu introduced the grand hotel situated in the middle of the town.

"Where are we?" Sakura asked because she was sure she had never seen this town before.

"At the hotel." Sasuke answered. "That's all you need to know."

Sakura clutched her fists together tightly. "All I need to know? So I'm a prisoner now?" She snapped.

Sasuke didn't answer as he led the way into the tall, red building.

"He's like a freaking piece of metal sometimes, isn't he?!" Sakura asked Suigetsu angrily as they watched the teenager talk to the secretary at the front desk. His sentences were short and blunt, but Sakura noticed a hint of blush on the woman's cheeks.

The other nodded in agreement. "The ones that cut you if you pick it up."

They knowingly exchanged a look of understanding, Sakura forgetting, for a moment, that she apparently despised the white haired ninja.

"Sakura-neechan?" A voice said blearily.

She turned to find Katin half-awake and struggling on Suigetsu's back. "Don't let the white haired monster get me!" He screamed in his sleep randomly.

The people in the lobby stared at the boy quizzically.

The only white haired person close within hearing range winced. "Ouch. You Leaf Village ninjas are a hurtful bunch." Suigetsu muttered as he adjusted the little boy on his shoulder. He glanced at Sakura ruefully. "Do _you_ want to carry him? He seems to really want to stick to you. But then again, that could be something all males have in common."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she accepted a now quiet Katin, who had drifted back to sleep. She decided maybe Suigetsu didn't mean to offend anyone, but that was probably his usual talking style. "You know, you remind me of someone I know." She said thoughtfully with a slightly smile. "But I can't quite put my finger on who."

"Someone who's good-looking, I hope. And good with women." He wiggled his pale eyebrows comically.

She sniggered. "Oh, yeah. Now I remember. Jiraiya."

**-0O0-**

**AN: Oh, yeah, by the way, Karin's big entrance is going to be in the next chapter. Hehe. There will be a sort of low degree of a catfight, I guess. Will try to update soon, people. Thanks for reading! :D (And review if you like/don't like this chapter/story. Tell me about it! :D ) **


	5. Chapter 5: Hotel rooms and a fan girl

**Chapter 5: Hotel rooms and Fan girl #900,001**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**AN: Thank you so much for the reviews, everyone! They inspire me to write more in a shorter amount of time. ;) Special thanks to **_**jennjennr**_** too, for pointing out the grammar errors I missed. (Grins sheepishly) Heh. Yeah. I tend to do that sometimes. My apologies. **

******Also, perhaps I should mention something about the plot. As you can obviously tell, this fanfic borrows characters from the anime, but the plot is pretty much all mine. So there will be no spoilers, unless, of course, my ideas somehow manage to match up with those of the makers of the anime. Just to let you know, in case you're expecting something that happens in the manga later on. And also to warn you all this may not be entirely all the old characters. Others, like Katin, will later be introduced. **

******Just a little heads up. :) Sorry for keeping you so long, and happy reading! :D **

****

-OoO-

"Are you two done yet?" Sasuke asked them impatiently as he returned to Sakura and Suigetsu chatting animatedly. "Let's go." He led the way up the stairs to the top floor of the building.

He used a key to unlock a door left from the dark stone staircase. "Suigetsu, you will have to share with Juugo for the next few days. Sakura can have your room."

"Aw, man." Suigetsu groaned. "Why me? Juugo snores. Why can't she share with Karin?"

Sasuke gave him a cold look.

"Right. Because Karin would try to poison her in her sleep." The other ninja sighed. "Got it."

_Interesting how he didn't question why Sasuke didn't spare his room. His orders as a leader are fairly evident, I guess. _Sakura thought, watching them from the side and arms reached back to keep the sleeping Katin on her back.

As they walked into the hallway, the first door opened in the left and a red haired girl with glasses danced out. She leapt at Sasuke, who nimbly dodged her outstretched arms. "Sasuke-kun!" She shrieked happily, wrapping her arms around his arm instead.

Sakura put a hand over her mouth to cover her snigger.

The exasperated Uchiha spared her a look, not even trying to untangle from Karin's iron grip on his left arm.

"Fan girl." She coughed. "Brings back memories, eh?" She grinned.

Sasuke snorted and smirked, then composed himself quickly.

"And who're _you_?" The girl turned to sneer at the team's newest addition, but gasped. "No!"

Sakura, not sure of what to make of her behaviour, raised a quizzical pink eyebrow.

"You slut! Sasuke has a child?!" Karin screamed in Sakura's direction, tears nearly pouring out of her eyes.

There was a brief silence.

Suigetsu cleared his throat. "Uh, Katin is really—" He started, only to be cut off by Sakura's sudden realization. Fast as lightning, the white haired shinobi snatched the still napping boy from the kunoichi's back, sensing the upcoming tsunami.

"**HELL, NO!**" Sakura yelled, waving her fists furiously. Suigetsu and Sasuke both gripped one of her arms as she swung herself furiously in Karin's direction, trying to kick the triumphant kunoichi. "Why the hell does everyone think like that around here! Who do you think I am?! Besides… at least I can see properly without glasses!" She shouted randomly, struggling against the two.

Sasuke and Suigetsu sweat dropped.

_Oh, that was pathetic, Sakura. Ever since you were friends again with Ino, you've lacked practice with insults. _She thought, embarrassed. _Dammit. _

"What did you say?! How dare you discriminate against me! No one talks about me that way!" Karin shouted back.

The two boys watched in horror as a furious Karin charged at an equally furious Sakura. Except the furious Karin was not restrained, unlike the furious Sakura. And they were already too tangled with the furious Sakura to deal with the furious Karin.

An orange figure blurred right in front of Karin, blocking her way. "Karin, stop. You're going to hurt her." The large, orange haired boy said nervously.

Suigetsu breathed a sigh of relief.

Sasuke's face returned to his annoyed look.

"Hell, yeah! I'm going to _kill_ her!" The red haired kunoichi snarled from behind him, trying to navigate around the large boy.

"Please, no killing allowed." Juugo turned adroitly, blocking Karin's way wherever she turned.

Karin stomped her foot, and shoved past Juugo into her room. She slammed the door with a bang. "By the way, Sasuke-kun. If you need me, I'll be in my room!" Came her now sickly sweet voice.

Sakura couldn't help it. She nearly collapsed with laughter. "Wow, she's kind of like Ino!" She shook her head with a smile. "Awesome fan girl you've got in the collection, Sasuke!"

Sasuke sighed dejectedly.

"I totally know what you mean." Suigetsu groaned as he sighed. "It is a pain with her around."

"I heard that!" Karin shrieked loudly from inside her room. "You'd better watch your back, ugly! And you too, water boy!"

Suigetsu groaned. "_Water boy?_ Why did you even bother to take her, Sasuke?"

"I've already told you, Suigetsu. We _need_ her for this mission." Sasuke turned to him sternly. "And this discussion is over."

Sakura glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow, surprised at his tone of authorization. So he did need this loud, annoying kunoichi for a reason.

_A reason, of course. One of the many reasons why he left Konoha to become stronger. _She thought, her mood melancholy instantly. We _were too weak for him. _I _was too weak for him. _Konoha _was too weak for him. He had to go find_ _stronger shinobi. Like her. _She lowered her eyes to the red-carpeted floor. _Why do I care? Why am I staying here just to inflict pain on myself? Everything he says, he does. The old habits are still there. I can still imagine the younger version in my mind. The one I admired. Now…the inside must be the same, but the outside is as cold as ice. _

"Your room is the third door." Suigetsu told Sakura, cutting through her thoughts.

She nodded and picked up the dozing Katin sullenly as she stumbled off, lost in her own thoughts. None of the other three had mistaken the almost visible rain cloud above her head.

"Uh. Sasuke, who is she?" Juugo asked.

"Someone. We will be in her company for a while. As a med nin." He added firmly.

"You sure about that?" Suigetsu muttered. "This Sakura looks special to you. You two know each other?"

Sasuke silenced him with a cold glare. "Curiosity kills the cat. I strongly advise you against it."

"Ok, old wise guy. But a cat has nine lives." He winked as he walked towards the third door. "And there is definitely something going on between you two. I'd have figured from the way you insisted on carrying her, and when I found you in the firest, you were trying to protect—"

Sasuke silenced him with an icy, red glare. "I've always wanted to know, Suigetsu, do you happen to enjoy watching helplessly while your arms fall off, pooling in blood at your feet?" He said coldly.

"What's going on?" Juugo asked, looking from the deadly Uchiha to the smirking Suigetsu.

Instead of answering Sasuke, Suigetsu turned to Juugo and draped a pale arm over him broad shoulders. "You, big guy, and I will be sharing a cozy room together. You'd better not snore, I'm warning you." He added, and then gestured towards the third door. "I need to clean out my stuff in the room to make place for _Sakura-chan._" He waved his arms mockingly. He knocked loudly, raising his voice. "Oy, cherry blossom, I'm going to have to clean the room."

"Feel free to do that. This place is a _mess_. Where do you sleep? In the air?" Came Sakura's reply.

"Hn." Sasuke muttered, before passing the four doors to the last one. "Don't worry about it, Juugo. Nothing out of the ordinary." He assured the still standing shinobi, who nodded uncertainly.

_I sure hope so. _Juugo thought as he shut himself in his own room behind the second wooden door to the left.

**-OoO-**

With the help of Suigetsu and a now awake Katin, Sakura soon completed the mass cleanup of the messy bedroom.

"All right!" Suigetsu said enthusiastically. "I don't think I've ever seen it this clean before. Counting when I moved in." He praised.

"How long ago was that?" Sakura asked, tossing an odd shoe into the box he had managed to find somewhere in the closet.

"Oh, a while." He answered vaguely. "But the hotel's been pretty generous about us staying here for a long time. Care to guess who convinced them with his amazing skills?"

"Where does he get all that money, though?" She asked, wiping a hand across her brow.

The nin shrugged. "How would I know? He's probably a multi billionaire, what with his rich heritage and the robbing of Orochimaru's treasury."

"Hm, I suppose." She said quietly.

"Sakura, I've been meaning to ask you…" Suigetsu started after a minute of silence.

"What is it?" She asked absently as she checked under the bed, and winced. There was a lot of dust under there. More cleanup.

His gaze took in Katin's half hidden form in the closet; just finishing the cleaning there, and he wondered if what he is asking is too painful or private for her to answer. What's her relationship with Sasuke anyway? Something that didn't turn out well in the end, that was for sure. Maybe later, he decided quickly.

"Uh…do you know how to cook?" He asked instead to the crouching figure half engulfed by the bed.

Sakura sounded surprised as she banged her head under the bed. "Ow! Crap. Yes. Why?"

"Well, first, Karin's cooking tastes like my grandma's sweaty socks." He explained awkwardly. He shrugged, knowing she couldn't see. "And second, there weren't any ramen stores in town."

"And…?"

"Dunno why, but he always takes us to try local ramen stores wherever he goes, as an alternative to Karin's cooking. Ever since we discovered a piece of fur in Karin's cooking. It's like she's trying to poison us. But we _have_ to eat it now, ever since we moved here. It's driving me crazy."

Sakura's eyes widened at this information. _Ichiraku? Naruto favourite ramen restaurant? _She realized as she remembered the team celebrations and nights they spent in the store: Naruto finishing bowl after bowl, Sasuke staring at him like he's an idiot and occasionally telling him that, and she herself always forced to pay for Naruto's bills and occasionally getting too fed up and punching him half to death. _Broken bonds…are they really as broken as he pretends?_ She wondered, something in her heart warming at the thought.

"Sakura?" Suigetsu asked quizzically. "Are you done down there?"

She sank back to earth and reality again. "Oh, yes. There's actually just a bunch of dust here, but I also found a sock here." She reported, reaching for the socks. She stopped suddenly. "Do you even wear socks?" She asked as an afterthought.

"Uh, no. I don't think so."

"On second thought… Never mind. I'll just leave these here."

"What were you thinking?" He asked curiously.

The girl managed a cheerful grin as she climbed out of the bed. "Oh, nothing. Just old memories, I guess. Ones that I should have forgotten for my sanity long ago." She added softly, slumping down on the bed despite all the dust all over her red top and pink hair.

Of course, that would have been a perfect opportunity to ask her what those "old memories" were, but her bitter sadness made Suigetsu stop. He would give her some time to heal before he risked cutting opening the old wounds again.

"All done!" Katin announced from inside the closet, jumping out happily.

"Great, Katin." Sakura said, putting on a jubilant mask. "Now we help Suigetsu carry these to his room."

Suigetsu and Katin groaned. There were around twenty boxes in total.

"Don't worry, the sooner we start, the sooner we finish!" Sakura reminded them cheerfully. "Come on, you two. Get moving!" She lightly stacked ten boxes up in front of her arms and balanced them perfectly as she nudged the door fully open with her foot. They heard her walking down the hallway effortlessly and were left staring in awe.

Suigetsu was trying to pick his jaw off the ground. "How…"

Katin sighed in admiration. "She trains a lot. You should see her with her super chakra strength back. Isn't Sakura-neechan awesome?"

The open mouthed ninja stood still. "I really don't want to annoy her." He finally said.

Katin and Suigetsu both shuddered. "Hell, no." They agreed vehemently together.

**Chapter 6: ****First morning at the Hebi household. There's a l****ittle bit of interaction between Sasuke and Sakura, and a taste of Karin's famous cooking. ;) Thanks for reading. And please, as always, tell me how I did, because, honestly, that's the reason why many of these fanfics are up here, right? ;) **


	6. Chapter 6: First morning with Hebi

**Chapter 6: First morning at the Hebi household**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, reviewers! :D Excuse the long time in between updates, everyone, so please enjoy this chapter! Yeah, I **_**was **_**going to add a bit more Sasusaku interaction in here, but I just kind of took it out at the beginning because I think it's a bit too early. (I mean, he just kidnapped her without bothering to explain why! Well, yeah, I know, that's my fault, but still…;) ) **

**Anyways, unto the story! :D  
**

Always an early riser, Sakura was the first to wake up. Just as she was about to dig into her simple meal of bread and milk in the kitchen, a stretching Sasuke strode into the room as if he owned it. Which, technically, he did.

He frowned at the kunoichi. He was usually the first to rise in the morning. It was a precious time of tranquility where there was no blabbering Katin and fanatic Karin.

Sakura was determined to avoid looking at him, pretending he didn't exist. She was still furious he kidnapped her and stole her chakra, which she still had not fully retrieved yet. She was equally determined not to think about his ruffled hair and his handsome looks. No matter what she felt for him before, this was _no_t the same person. This was a missing nin trained under Orochimaru and who had kidnapped her to use her as a tool. This was _not_ Sasuke.

Silently, the teenager in question made his way through the large kitchen, avoiding passing the side of the round, wooden table where she sat. After rummaging in the refrigerator for several minutes, he pulled out two tomatoes. Swiftly, he slid out a kunai from the top drawer of the wooden drawer underneath him and speared each tomato into flat slices.

Sakura, eyes trained on her bread in one hand and milk bowl in the other, vaguely noticed him sliding into the seat directly facing her. She munched on her breakfast as rapidly as she could without clearly displaying that she was doing so with the intention to finish her breakfast as quickly as possible.

Finishing the last of her bread, Sakura noticed he had also taken the last piece of his breakfast.

After a few seconds of debating with herself of whether this would seem that she was still listed under one of his fan girls (and deciding it was mere common courtesy), Sakura swiped Sasuke's empty tomato plate from beside his left hand on the way to the sink. She observed that it was lined with gold.

Not even bothering to glance at her, Sasuke got up and returned to his room, closing the door with a quiet clunk behind him.

_How typical. _She snorted inside her mind. _Always arrogant as a prince and acting like one. _Even though she consciously thought of this, her subconsious, knowing Sasuke, didn't exactly expect him to scream out "thank you" and kneel to the floor in gratefulness for washing his plate anyway, so she was content with his silence as he left.

As the pink haired girl turned on the water, humming quietly, a sleepy Karin, yawning widely and scratching the back of her head, staggered into the kitchen.

Her eyes narrowed instantly as her gaze fell on the petit kunoichi, busily washing her bowl and...

"How dare you wash Sasuke-kun's precious tomato dish?" She shrieked, waving her arms crazily and pointing a finger towards Sakura.

Calmly, the pink haired nin rinsed off the last of the milk off her own bowl and placed the bowl and the plate back onto the shelf. Drying off her hands on a towel hanging beside the sink, she ignored the loud, fuming girl and made towards the exit back into her room. It was way too early in the morning to start a fight.

Karin, suddenly smiling maliciously, blocked her way with her body. "You still don't have your chakra back, do you? If I kill you here, Sasuke-kun won't have anything to say about it, because he won't care. How'd you like me to test that theory?"

"I don't want to fight with you." Sakura said quietly and made towards the kitchen door again, only to be blocked once more by the redhead.

"Don't want? Maybe you _can't_. Are you scared? Afraid of competition?" She hissed malevolently in Sakura's ear.

The pink haired kunoichi, having had enough yelling for a lifetime during her rocky friendship with Ino, merely uttered a clear, "Excuse me, you're blocking the way."

Karin snorted. "But you're also blocking _my way_, aren't you, you little—"

"Get away from Sakura-neechan, you scary lady!" Katin yelled from the hallway, skidding to a stop outside his room and pointing a finger accusingly at Karin.

Taking advantage of her distraction, Sakura deftly edged around Karin's slim form and gave the little boy a sunny smile. "Slept well, Katin?" She left the furious red head staring wordlessly after her.

Katin scrunched up his nose distastefully. "No, actually! I had this really scary dream where this really ugly lady with red hair who looks like my grandma when she was taking a bath was trying to kill you!" He stuck out his tongue from behind Sakura at Karin.

"Why, you little brat! I'm going to kill _you_ right now! A long, painful death!" Karin screamed at the kitchen door and charged blindly like a mad bull.

Sakura's eyes blazed instantly and she crouched protectively, a kunai flashing in her hand, in front of the little boy.

However, her actions were gone to waste as Suigetsu and Juugo's door opened suddenly and Karin stopped just in time to avoid banging into the hard wood.

The glare she gave the blinking, yawning Juugo, who had one hand still on the doorknob from the inside of the room, emitted furious lightning. Outside, dry thunder boomed, cutting a white strip through the clear blue sky.

Without a word, she stomped, again, back into her room.

The orange haired ninja stared, confused, after the redhead. "Did something happen?" He asked, confounded.

"Nah, she's just demonstrating to Katin what PMS looks like, for future reference." Sakura said dryly, giving the little boy a wink as she turned around. "No need to worry."

Suigetsu snickered as he squeezed past Juugo out the room's door. "Definitely something wrong with that girl. I think Sasuke just took her because she had red hair."

"My hair is considered red also." Juugo stated from the sidelines. "What is the problem with that?"

Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "Hello? Joke, buddy?" He turned to Sakura.

Sakura had raised her eyebrows far above her hairline and her lips parted slightly. "Karin and Sasuke? Oh, gosh. Ugh. Are they…?!"

Suigetsu noted Sakura's surprised expression and realized the direction she had taken off to. "Crap, no! That's not exactly what I meant, cheery blossom."

The pink haired kunoichi relaxed visibly, though she didn't say anything else.

_I still wonder what her relation with Sasuke is. _Suigetsu thought absently.

"Have you eaten, Sakura-chan?" Juugo asked politely from the sidelines.

"Yes, I have, Juugo. You three can go. And call me Sakura, please." She smiled back, stepping out of their way as the two teenagers and one boy made their way to the kitchen.

"Come with us, Sakura-neechan. You can just sit and watch, _please_?" Katin begged, widening his large brown eyes.

Sakura gazed down at the little boy and grinned. "All right, then. Why not?"

At the wooden table, the kunoichi sat down for the second time that morning and watched the scene before her.

"I want sugar in my milk!" Katin cried randomly, jabbing a finger at his milk-filled bowl.

Sakura stifled a smile, watching Suigetsu sigh and roll his eyes. "I have no idea why the hell you'd want it in your milk." He started, but then saw Katin's bright face crumble.

Defeated, he took the sugar jar from the shelf and handed it to him. "Whatever. Take all you want, kid, and stop bothering me." He said, annoyed, as he flapped a hand in Katin's direction.

"Yay!"

"I believe it is not polite to talk with your mouth full, little Katin." Juugo said, as quiet as always, from the side of the table.

"I'm not little!" Katin whined.

Shaking her head with a small smile, Sakura watched, her mind drifting back to her genin days.

-O0O-

"Lunchtime, Sasuke-kun!" She heard the familiar sickly sweet voice call again.

Hopping down from the window where she was sitting, Sakura opened the door and peeked outside. Karin, wearing an old-fashioned orange apron, was knocking at Sasuke's door with what she considered as a sweet smile pasted on her face. It didn't suit her. It made her look like a toad in pain.

The kunoichi turned to give Sakura a death glare brimming with static.

Sakura bit down on her bottom teeth and stared back defiantly, green eyes blazing. Inside, rage was churning up in her stomach. _I never did anything to her. What's her problem? Three time's enough. I'm not going to play nice anymore. _

Suigetsu and Juugos' door opened and the white haired ninja, followed by his companion, exited to find themselves in the middle of an optical war between the two.

Sasuke also, thankfully, chose this moment to open his door, breaking Karin's concentration. He briefly glanced at the four crowded in front of their rooms' doors before Karin tried to throw herself on him again.

"Sasuke-kun! Lunch is ready!" She purred as she latched her arms around his arms.

Sasuke glared at Karin but didn't move out of her grasp.

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned away from the revolting scene. _I am not jealous. I am not jealous. I don't like him. I don't like him. _She repeated to herself.

-O0O-

Katin rushed to the washroom, his small face turning purple almost immediately after he swallowed the first mouthful of Karin's cooking.

Suigetsu gagged on the first spoonful. "What is this stuff again supposed to be again?" He choked out, gasping for breath.

"Chicken soup." Karin glared back, daring him to say more.

"It is not so bad." Juugo said quietly as he swallowed, though he was looking a little blue himself.

Karin beamed for once. "I knew my cooking had improved! What do you think, Sasuke-kun?" She turned an admiring glance to the silent shinobi.

Sakura thought Sasuke would surely refuse. She had turned pink, then red, then blue as she swallowed her first spoonful. _Was that even chicken?_ She wondered, disgusted, as she felt the mushy substance descend in her throat. It gave off the scent of rotten cheese and tasted like jello.

To her complete surprise, Sasuke slowly raised a spoonful towards his mouth. He closed his eyes and swallowed painfully. When he reopened them, there was a trace of red Sharigan retracting as he suddenly stood up and pushed his bowl away.

"I have to go train." He said bluntly, turning slightly green, as he hurtled out the open window, not even bothering to use the stairs.

"And I have to go grocery shopping." Sakura cut in, also vanishing out of the window.

"Me too! Wait, cherry blossom!" Suigetsu leaped out after her as if his life depended on it.

Juugo and Karin were soon the only ones left in the room. (Katin was still in the bathroom.)

A minute later, Juugo was pulling on Katin's waist as the small boy struggled to climb out the window too.

"Sakura-neechan!" He howled in a whine, scrambling for the open window. "Don't leave meeeee!!!"

"How about one more spoonful?" Karin asked pleadingly. "Come on, you two. You're the only ones left. And we have to finish this whole pot!"

"Noooo!" Katin screamed as he broke free of Juugo's grip and started to run around the kitchen, chased by Karin with her red hair flying. "Why me?!" He sobbed as tears flooded from his eyes.

-O0O-

Sakura sat cross-legged on a high branch of an oak tree, meditating in the forest nearby. From her position above ground, she could no longer hear Sasuke and Suigetsu training, and she had decided to attempt to regain as much of her chakra as possible. Sasuke had said two days. That would be today.

She closed her eyes, sinking deeply into herself and her inner chakra supply. She could feel it glowing inside her.

Blinking open her eyes in surprise, Sakura realized it was already more than half regained. Even as she was thinking this, she was dimly aware of it increasing slowly but surely inside her core.

Smiling, Sakura guided a touch of green chakra to her fingertips and watched it shimmer. Her jutsus and super strength were back.

**A/N: Soo... the end of Chapter 6. Chapter 7 might take a while, just because it's the starting of an action part and I need to write a few chapters ahead to make sure my idea works out in the future and they don't just all die because I have no clue what to write next. ;) Yes, that would be very depressing. **

**Chapter 7 basically has to do with Karin and Sakura. I bet you can figure it out. :) When you have two women inside a household who are (even if one of them doesn't admit it) in love with the same guy, sparks are gonna fly...**

**And, as always, please review to communicate your opinons about the story. If there's a weird/nebulous part, I'll attempt to change or explain it later on. Thanks for viewing! :D**


	7. Chapter 7: Karin's request

**Chapter 7: Karin's request **

**(I don't know if they really had pop and chips and all the junk food back then, but in this case, they did. ^.^ )**

The rest of the week passed the same as always, with a silent breakfast and a noisy Karin. Gagging down a spoonful of lunch, Sakura, Katin, Juugo and Suigetsu would then excuse themselves in exceedingly creative fashions. Minutes later, they would regroup secretly in Sakura's room and split a few bags of chips, bottles of pop and some sushi Sakura made in the early morning (before anyone but Sasuke had gotten up, who never bothered questioning her what she was doing).

Sasuke was never part of their small group, but Sakura suspected he kept something inside his room to live on too. After a long debate with herself, Sakura decided not to leave Sasuke any sushi in his doorway. After all, that would be such a _fan girl_ thing. If he knew and wanted some, he should come and ask. And that, Sakura knew clearly, was never going to happen.

As the following week commenced, the pink haired kunoichi made a blunt decision.

_Our current situation was preposterous._ She fumed inside her bedroom, which was now fully decorated with cartoon posters of cheeky squirrels and a few racecars, thanks to Katin's creativity and Suigetsu's lock picking skills into Sasuke's room (and his purse). _Karin is the only one not living on junk food and sushi._ _If it continued, Katin could get malnutrition or even obese._ And she, Sakura Haruno, was not going to let this happen. After all, this was still part of her B-rank mission.

Sakura got up at her usual time on Monday morning and skipped the sushi making ritual. She whipped up a bowl of Cheerios and milk and snacked on an orange.

Sasuke soon made his subtle appearance too.

As usual, Sakura entirely tried to ignore him and the sudden loud thumping in her chest. She was suddenly careful with every little movement she makes around him. She yearned to sneak a glance at his handsome features, to spark some sort of communication among them. They were so close in presence, yet so far apart in spirit.

During the last week, she had learned one lesson: Sasuke and her were never going to happen. There were too many obstacles (i.e., Karin and the millions of fan girls). Their fates were never meant to intertwine in the end.

All this. All these years. For nothing. That was the truth. They were never going to be together.

And she had learned to quietly accept the truth.

All the philosophy flew out of her mind as an unexpected plate of tomatoes slid into her view.

Startled, she raised her green eyes, her mouth loosely forming an "O". Sasuke was nowhere to be seen, but there was one slice of red tomato left in the gold-rimmed plate.

Sakura hesitated in disbelief as she stared at the lone red slice sitting quietly in the plate.

About to suddenly smile, the kunoichi stopped and ruthlessly crushed the hopes lying deep inside her heart. She closed her emerald eyes. It was no use giving in to temptation. It was better to suffer less and break the bond completely now than to leave it stretched out painfully forever.

"No, thank you." She said firmly to the empty table, pushing her chair from the table and drifting over numbly to the sink.

That was the first day she did not wash his plate for him.

A while after she left, the lone slice of tomato sat on the table, looking immensely forlorn. That is, until a famished Karin stepped into the kitchen.

"My beautiful Sasuke-kun! I knew it!" She screamed in joy, thundering down the hallway.

Back in his room and perfectly able to hear everything the two girls have said, Sasuke groaned and escaped quickly through the window to the forest below.

-O0O-

The hours dragged by to the afternoon and the sun rose lazily to the center of the sky. Sakura looked up from the small hand pocket _Glamour _magazine she always brought with her on missions. (Kakashi, of course, first introduced this idea. If they sold pocket _Icha Icha Paradises, _there was no reason not to sell other, **non-perverted** teenage magazines.)

She tilted her head to the blue sky, letting her shoulder length pink hair fall back between her shoulder blades.

Sasuke had given her a room. He was hardly home for much of the time she was, probably always out training. Karin was too busy putting on makeup to bother her, and Katin was out watching Suigetsu and Juugo train the nearby forest. No one was physically restraining her to stay.

Yet, she felt imprisoned.

It seemed it had been a long time since she had gone out alone outside. Besides the first day, when it was a real emergency, Sasuke never allowed her out except with at least himself and Juugo. Suigetsu, Karin and Katin were usually excluded from the list. Katin, she could figure out easily enough, though Suigetsu, she could never figure out why.

Setting her jaw firmly, Sakura repocketed the book and pulled her brown leather gloves down further from her fingertips.

Now that she herself was determined to, as quoted by Sasuke, "break the bonds forever" between them, her she managed to finally see her situation clearly. And some things did not add up.

She was here as a med-nin and not his prisoner. So where were the wounds he asked her to treat? What about her mission? What about Naruto, Kakashi, Tsunade and Konoha? She had been too caught up with Sasuke to even think about them!

_You are a traitor, Sakura! _Inner Sakura admonished. _He's just playing you and using your feelings to lure you into staying! Besides, who know what he did with that obnoxious redhead Karin while you were busy suffering back in Konoha. _

Sakura closed her eyes.

She knew her Inner Self made sense.

_So why am I staying to inflict pain on myself?_ She questioned her sentimental side. _Damn that bastard, making my life so miserable back before Naruto returned! What the _hell_ does he want? _

Finally unable to restrain her curiosity mixed with fury, she charged out of the room to demande an explanation from Sasuke.

She arrived at the kitchen to find everyone back from training and gathered there. Suigetsu and Karin arguing, as usual, Katin blabbering, as usual, and Juugo quietly listening to the chattering boy.

"The milk, I tell you, is _not—_" Karin started, then stopped at Sakura's anger fanning out around her in an orange haze.

Everyone else stopped talking as they watched the seething Sakura.

"Where the hell is Sasuke?" She demanded slowly. "I need him." She hissed, steam practically pouring from her ears.

Karin turned to her with a look of distaste. "He just went out to train. What do you mean, _you need him_? What do you need him for, you slut?"

There was a minute of deadly silence saturated with thick tension.

"You did _not_ just say that." Sakura's deadly, velvet voice echoing in the small space.

"Well, I just _did_, ugly. What's the worst you can do? Cry me to death? I don't know if you're actually past a genin yet. Really, you're just a little, fragile flower. Once you've tumbled down from the cherry blossom tree, you're just something to be stomped on. _You _are useless." Karin sneered, her glassed glinting in the morning sun.

"I would not recommend that in your case, Karin—" Juugo started politely.

"Shut up, Juugo!" Karin screeched, jumping up from the table, rudely sending her chair flying against the back wall. "You!" She jabbed her arm towards Sakura. "I've had enough with you! Why are you even here? Everything was fine before _you _came along! I had him!" She wailed, then a sneer suddenly came onto her face. "But you know what, today, he proved that he loves me. He left me a piece of _his _breakfast!"

Sakura groaned and rubbed her fist on her forehead.

"Oh, goodness help me." She mumbled.

"Whatever, Karin, you can think about it that way if you want. But honestly, did you think I enjoy being a prisoner here? If it weren't for Katin and that ugly bastard, I would _not_—and I repeat, for those elderly, mentally retarded redheads in here—_**not**_** be here.**" Sakura replied, crossing her arms.

"Moral of the story, get out of my way, Karin_. _As I said before, I don't want to fight you." Sakura said flatly. "If _Sasuke's_ not here, then I'll be waiting in my room for when he gets back."

_Aw, dammit! Why does that end up sounding so plain wrong too? _Sakura groaned in her mind as she turned to go.

"Stop!"

The pink haired teenager turned back with a weary sigh, finally understanding Shikamaru's worldviews on troublesome women. "What?"

Karin's face flushed red, and her eyes were so wide with rage her whole pupil was visible. She pointed a finger at Sakura.

"I knew it!" She screamed, tears nearly flooding out of her eyes. "How dare you? _My_ Sasuke-kun! I'll challenge you to a fight. One on one! To the death! For Sasuke."

Sakura closed her eyes, resisting the urges to smash everything, including Karin, in her path. Why couldn't she just leave her alone?

"_No _means _no._" She said through closed eyes.

She was not going to risk hurting anyone else for that bastard. She had hurt enough of her friends and family when she had retreated into herself after he left.

"Are you scared, poor, pathetic, weak Sakura? Afraid of a little healthy competition?" Karin sneered loudly. "You know you're not half as good as me. Sasuke needs _me_. He doesn't need _you_. And that's the truth, you annoying weakling."

Sakura's blazing green eyes flew open. Her knuckles were stained white as she gritted her teeth together. How dare she call her weak and annoying? She had no idea how hard she worked to gain as much skills as she had now. She had no idea of Sakura's power, now almost comparable to Tsunade's.

"Fine! But two restrictions."

"Oh, I'm so scared!" Karin rolled her eyes. "Bring it."

"One. We are not fighting for Sasuke." Sakura said, slowly calming herself down. "We are fighting for your cooking role."

Back in the kitchen, she glimpsed Suigetsu giving her thumbs up and an enormous grin.

Karin blinked, confused. "Uh…sure. I accept. How do you want to do that?" She asked suspiciously, as if somehow, cooking would relate her to Sasuke if Sakura won.

"If you win, you keep on cooking. If I win, I take over the meals." Sakura said coolly. "Nothing too complicated that you wouldn't understand, I hope."

In the back, she noticed Katin climbed unto the kitchen table and started to do the Macarena in his joy to be liberated from the atrocious cooking.

The redhead did not seem to notice, for she was busy calculating. "But if I win, I also get Sasuke. And if you win, you just get the cooking thing." Karin said quickly.

A sharp pang of emotions sliced through her heart. _Truly give up on him? _She wondered. _It's never going to happen._ She reminded herself. _Better to hurt in the present than to drag it out to the future, right? Remember?_

Sakura let out a small sigh, and turned her gaze back to Karin. "Fine. I accept. If you win, you get Sasuke too. So are you on about the cooking role?"

"Fine, but that's the lamest thing I've ever heard of." Karin snorted.

"Then you've obviously haven't heard of your own life story." Suigetsu snickered from the back, pulling Katin off the table as the red head whirled around.

"Shut up!" Karin shrieked, her arms flailing around like a plucked chicken.

"Your opponent is back here. And I have the second restriction." Sakura crossed her arms, shifting her weight to her left leg. "Or are you really scared of me?" "Never!" Karin turned back, refocusing her attention on the pink haired nin.

"And second, I am not going to use genjutsu."

There was a moment of silence. Even Suigetsu stopped climbing on the table to celebrate.

"What?! Who do you think I am? Are you insulting me?"

"No. I'm trying to keep you alive. And not destroying the town." Sakura murmured through clenched teeth.

"What was that?!"

"Forget it. Do you accept or not? Come on, granny."

"How dare you! Of course I accept! Makes it easier for me to kick your butt!" Karin cried, a malicious grin appearing on her lips.

"Sakura-chan, are you sure about the jutsu thing?" Juugo asked quietly from the back. "You're at a severe disadvantage here. Karin, maybe you should just let it go."

"What? Pass a golden opportunity to kill my enemies? Pah, no way! Sasuke's mine!" Karin exclaimed, before glancing at Sakura. "Meet you at the forest in ten minutes, loser!" She leapt out the window, hardly startling the passer-bys below, as they had gotten used to the ninjas randomly jumping out of windows after a week now.

Sakura sighed. "Why are so many of the girls in my life so damn troublesome?" She wondered aloud, and then smiled as her lazy, pineapple haired friend's face appeared in her mind. "And that would be the Shikamaru effect." She sighed.

"Are you going to be OK, Sakura nee-chan?" Katin questioned, concern shining in his large brown eyes. "You won't get…hurt, will you?" He whispered.

Smiling, Sakura kneeled down beside the kitchen table at his height. "I would never abandon you, Katin. And I will keep my promises. Because that is my ninja way." She grinned, reminded of Naruto. "OK, so that _was_ kind of corny… and I still don't get _where_ he gets the courage to actually say that to complete strangers." She mumbled, the smile never leaving her face.

_I guess I am pretty affected with all the people I hang out with. _She thought fondly.

Waving good-bye to the rest of the people in the room, Sakura, not in a hurry, started towards the door to take the stairs down.

"Wait, Sakura!" Suigetsu called from the table.

She turned.

"With your chakra control and Karin's temper, you could destroy the entire town. And Sasuke's still waiting for his brother to show up here, which the guy won't and _can't_ if the town's destroyed. So I think I should perhaps come along with you two." He explained.

"Katin will stay with me, Sakura-chan. Do not worry!" Juugo called timidly from the kitchen.

Sakura contemplated at Suigetsu, then grinned. "Sure, Sui. Why not?"

**AN: WOW, guys!!! I am amazed by how much ppl like this thing. I will keep working on it, not to disappoint you all! Thanks for the reviews, they're great! Anything is welcome, even stuff I should improve on that I didn't do right, etc. ^.^ So, yeah, I heard that this chapter looks a bit short. Actually, it may well be cause I have no clue how to count the words anymore. . Sooo... in the absence of that piece of knowledge, I promise to make the next one longer!!! (add Rock Lee gesture here) :) **

**Right, right... So, next chapter. The big fight is going to be in it, with Suigetsu as the referee, who basically does nothing but dodge Karin's kunais. Sakura is going to be tricked at least 2x (lost count after that) by Karin but we all know who's gonna win! ;) Ya! Sasusaku, rock on! **

**-WowAmazing**


	8. Chapter 8: Sakura vs Karin

**Chapter 8: Sakura vs. Karin**

**(Uh, I'm not sure what Karin's signature moves are, so I'm using my imagination a bit for her techniques here.) **

"Bow before the judge, contestants." Suigetsu grinned as he stood before the two kunoichi, one that was fuming crazily and another calmly checking her weapons supply.

"Never, you idiot!" Karin yelled.

"Ow," Suigetsu cupped his ear painfully. "I was only trying to put up a formal atmosphere. Sheesh, Karin. Blinded by your face is bad enough, but now you're trying to make me _deaf _too?" He grinned as he dodged the kunai Karin half-heartedly aimed at his head.

"Round one is—hey!" Suigetsu started a minute later as Karin chucked another kunai at his chest before he was finished speaking. He dodged it with a sigh.

"Why is it always me the guy she tries to kill?" He mumbled as he watched the two standing on the opposite sides of the clearing in the middle of the forest glower at each other.

"No, it's not the kid, Juugo, her bastard _Sasuke-kun, _or even that pervert checking her out the other day! _No, _it's always _me._" He complained to himself. "Living with _her_, I don't even have to train everyday."

-O0O-

"Prepare to die!" Karin screamed as she charged, a kunai in hand as her arms dropped back from her sides.

"At the rate you're going, I'm going to die of old age before you make it halfway across the field." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Argh! I'm going to kill you and leave you out for the dogs!" Karin reappeared beside the pink haired girl, swinging her kunai viciously at her neck.

Easily dodging the attack with a crouch, Sakura swung her leg at Karin's ankle. "Oh, you mean leave me out for you? Hey, I never knew you were a cannibal, Karin. I guess that's why you can't cook for your life." Sakura asked easily as she back flipped after Karin dodged her leg swing.

The insult clearly achieved its intent, as Sakura's opponent's face was as red as a boiling tomato.

"That's _it_!" Karin skipped back too, and formed a chain of hand seals. Muttering something under her breath, the red headed kunoichi stuck her pinkie under her index finger.

"Cool move, if only you didn't look so plain retarded doing it." Sakura commented, suddenly beside Karin. With a glowing green fist, she swiped to her side at Karin.

Poof! The red head's clone vanished.

"Right. Normal protocol, it seems." Sakura mumbled to herself as she flashed out two kunai and neatly deflected the incoming shurikens from the trap Karin had set up behind the forest.

The pink haired ninja turned just in time to blocked Karin's right fist as she charged out from the undergrowth. "I've seen that trick too many times, it's not even funny anymore." She smiled, liking how much she was pissing Karin off with the lamest insults ever thought up by mankind.

"Well, this will be the last thing you see, slut!" Karin shrieked as she aimed her kunai at Sakura's eye.

"Now, I _really_ don't like your language. Keep this rated G, shall we?" Sakura frowned as she grew impatient and punched Karin in the gut.

It sent her flying into the undergrowth, cutting down a neat row of trees that would have made any lumberjack stare in awe.

"Damn. Now I probably have to heal her again." Sakura mumbled.

As a few minutes passed and no bleeding Karin tumbled out, Sakura felt the first wave of concern wash over her. What if she really killed her? While she did not enjoy having the kunoichi around, she still counted as a life! (Albeit, in her current opinion, a very low form.) She didn't think she'd ever forgive herself if she actually killed Karin in a supposed "training" battle.

Suigetsu landed quietly beside her, a frown etched on his face. "Uh… you sure she's still alive after that?"

"I think so. Unless she's really weak." Sakura said thoughtfully. "Which I don't think she is." She remembered Karin's position as she flew back. Legs outward, hands blocking from her abdomen.

"Crap." She muttered. "Unless my punch landed on one of her internal organs and there's internal bleeding and… I'm going in."

"Wait! Me too!" The white haired nin yelped as he clambered into the thick forest after her.

-O0O-

Following the trail of battered trees, they wandered into the forest. As the last cut tree stopped, the two looked around and found no sign of the redheaded kunoichi.

"Where is she?" Suigetsu murmured, rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura shook her head, a frown etched into her delicate features. "She should be around."

Then, they caught a trace of red hair behind the large tree they were standing.

"Karin!" Sakura exclaimed, rushing over to her.

It appeared she was out cold. Seeing her dishevelled form, Sakura felt guilty as she reached out to check her pulse. It wasn't exactly Karin's fault she was infatuated with Sasuke. Nearly every female who met him fell in love with him. The exceptions were mostly older ladies and younger children, but even that wasn't for certain.

Her emerald eyes suddenly narrowed, a slender hand still resting on Karin's wrist.

She turned to the silent Suigetsu. "Can you get me some basic medical supplies from the local pharmacy?"

"Uh…" He said, confused. "Of course. You're the med-nin here." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura looked back from where Suigetsu had disappeared.

She turned back to the supposedly unconscious Karin just in time to catch a kunai between her middle and index finger. "All right, Karin. Enough of your playing. If you wanted Suigetsu gone, you could've just said so."

The clone sitting at the base of the tree disappeared in another burst of smoke. The kunoichi's authentic voice came from all around the forest.

"So, you managed to figure it out." She said sourly. "I know I needed improvement on several thing this time, but what really gave it away?" She asked, her curious voice echoing in the green scenery.

"Well," Sakura rolled her eyes. "There _was _that you were sitting the opposite way of how you fell, which you obviously couldn't have done if you were unconscious. And the fact your clone, which was not a shadow clone, quite obviously didn't have a heartbeat, so there was no pulse."

"Hmph, well those could easily be modified." The obnoxious voice scoffed. "Next time you won't be so lucky, you ugly dog!"

"Well, it's nice to hear _you _haven't been damaged much." Sakura sighed. "Why are you so against me? What the hell did I do to you? Seriously."

"It's too late for negotiations!" Karin's voice shrieked.

"Ow." Sakura winced. "OK, you don't have to kill my eardrums. It was worth a try. So what're you going to do now?"

"Kill you!" Came the vehement shout.

"Nothing new about that, I guess." Sakura murmured as a flurry of shurikens flew down to greet her.

Preferring to conserve the newly retrieved chakra, Sakura kept to using only the kunai in her pouch as defence, knocking all the shuriken to the ground in a few seconds, her body a pink blur in the sky.

Five Karin replicas rose from the ground on either sides of her, each of them with a glinting kunai in hand.

"_This _is getting frustrating." Sakura said through clenched teeth after she was done with all of them. "Don't you have some chakra to save up? Quit using them all so uselessly!"

"Yeah, that's coming from the little, fragile flower." Karin's voice snickered. "I wonder how much chakra _you _have left?"

Sakura stopped to laugh. "Whoa, that's your plan?" She chortled, obviously amused by the idea. "You're more pathetic than I thought." She leaned against a tree, but she was thinking hard inside. _What makes her think her chakra level can last longer than mine? Does she have a kekkan genkaii?_

"Shut up! How dare you laugh at me? Prepare to die!" The real figure flew out of the tree. Her ferocious red eyes were blazing with fury and a malicious intent to kill. Her equally red hair flew in all direction, spreading out like a fan around her angry, pale face.

Still in the air, Karin performed a series of hand signs, muttering under her breath. She finished by thrusting her arm out at Sakura's face.

The other kunoichi bent backwards to the ground, Karin's fingers flashing past her face as her entire body followed.

During the suspended second, Karin sailed gracefully over Sakura. The pink haired nin raised one arm from her backward bridge position with one glowing green finger. She lightly tapped on Karin's solar plexus.

Maroon eyes wide open, Karin gasped for air as she barely managed to roll safely to the ground.

Her hands curled around her middle as her lips fought for air. Then, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed.

"Whoa." Sakura stared at the limp kunoichi as her mouth dropped open. She rotated her hand back to face her. "Was that too much power? Oh. No…" She glanced back at the kunoichi and froze for another second.

"Karin!" She raced over to kneel over beside the red head. She took a deep breath and placed her finger under her nose to check for any air coming out.

"Crap." She whispered when her finger felt nothing. She shook her head. _This can't be happening. Come on, Sakura, you're a medic. You _will _save her! _

Closing her eyes, she channelled her green chakra to her palms, placing them flat on Karin's stomach area, attempting to heal whatever she had caused there.

_Strange. But it's only bruised. No internal bleeding. _She checked the chakra and nervous systems to find them all perfectly working. With her emerald eyes still shut behind her eyelids, she frowned and her mouth tightened into a small line. _Then there is only one answer to this. _

She opened her eyes to feel a fist in her jaw. And though it didn't seem to break anything and was too far back to damage any of her teeth, it did hurt.

Karin stood up to admire her handiwork, Sakura crouching on the ground and holding her face, a small trail of red sliding down her to her neck. She didn't like, however, the small wince on the pink haired girl's face. It looked like she smelled something bad rather than actually was in pain. Karin was sure it had hurt, and her rival was just playing tough. Nobody could be _that_ strong, she had put _all_ of her strength into that punch.

_Too much power. I don't know how much I actually have left. _She thought subconsciously as her conscious gloated over her victory.

_And my genjutsu was now complete. _Was Karin's second thought.

Sakura stood up, letting her arms fall to her sides. While she rose, she felt a sudden rush of blood from her head. Her vision started to fill with white.

Standing still, Sakura realized in alarm that the white wasn't going away, as a head rush symptom would, but was taking over her entire vision. Before she could react, she was in a brown field.

And she was alone.

Gazing wordlessly at her surroundings, she discovered the empty patch of what used to be a forest was entirely brown and black. Desolate white strips of cloth swayed, almost horizontal, in the howling wind.

Above the dead looking place, she saw two dark red eyes in the sky.

_All right, then. Karin's had her fun. It's time to leave this pathetic genjustu. _Sakura rolled her eyes, not surprised to find herself tied up to a rotting, wooden stake on the ground. _Well, it's obviously I have to be in some sort of torturous justsu, or else Karin wouldn't have put on all that acting. I wondered how many times she rehearsed it. _

Concentrating on each of her arms, she built up enough chakra to cause friction between her skin and the iron chains bounding her arms. A minute later, they glowed red hot and broke away from her unto the ground.

Leaping down to a brown patch of dirt, Sakura closed her eyes to form the hand sign for breaking out of genjutsus.

Sticking her fingers between each other, Sakura closed her eyes and said the jutsu. When she opened them, she wasn't surprised that she was still trapped inside the genjuts.

Because when she closed her eyes, she had sensed the absence of an essential partial of her energy: her chakra.

"Your chakra has disappeared, hasn't it?" Karin's gloating voice said from the gray sky, where the two red eyes were glinting maliciously.

Sakura glared back wordlessly.

"Now that I have you in my grip, let's see what will really make you tick. Now… would it be physical pain?"

Sakura frowned. "Karin, you're really into this, aren't you? All we're fighting for is your cooking role, that's not a big deal. It's not a good reason to get all bloody and lose pails of chakra over. If you'll admit that you're defeated, then you might get better cooking. Because, honestly, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but your cooking sucks."

There was a silent pause.

"What did you say, you ugly?" Karin growled. "My cooking… what?!!"

Sakura clapped her palm to her forehead. _This girl just can't take any criticism, can she?_ She thought dryly.

"Fine. Bring on the torture. Let's see how long both of us can last." Sakura sighed.

Karin giggled childishly, her mood changing like a child. "Shall we?"

Chains rained down from the sky, attached with sharp shurikens and clinging in the air. Sakura saw with dismay that she could not dodge all of them at once. She closed her eyes, withdrawing to her center core, where a small pool of green light remained.

"One, two... And now!" She whispered, opening her eyes to see the genjutsu fade.

Karin's eyes were closed, her glasses creating a dark silhouette over her face from the bright moonlight.

Sakura took a deep breath of the fresh, night air, smiling up at the pale orb in the sky. She hadn't realized the time had passed so fast, but at least she had gotten an entire day's worth of training.

Glancing down at the red haired kunoichi, now really unconscious, she felt a smile tug at her lips. No matter how annoying, rude and loud Karin was, she still gave off a feeling of Ino somewhere in everything she did. Just as she could easily relate the rash Naruto to the blabbering Suigetsu and the quiet Juugo to the thoughtful Choji. They were truly different, but there was a certain relation that seemed to thread between them.

_Well, Karin's genjutsu would have been very effective and painful had she not used up too much chakra. That's what's good about being a medic, _Sakura reflected, _you can tell on a touch how much chakra they've left. _She thought, remembering back to when she had lightly touched Karin's solar plexus. She had known the kunoichi had not much chakra reserve to go on, so she had let herself fall into her trap to drain the rest away.

-O0O-

"Senile old man. Overcharging me for linen bandages." Suigetsu muttered, carefully dropping the roll of white clothe into his bulging pouch filled with medical supplies. "That _should_ be all." He muttered.

"But you need alcohol to cleanse the wounds too!" The gruff voice called from behind him. "It's all part of a basic first aid kit!"

Suigetsu clenched his teeth and stopped. He slowly turned around.

"Alcohol?" He said slowly, as if his teeth hurt.

"Yes." The old man nodded. He had two tuffs of white hairs sticking out like triangles on either sides of his head and a large grin. "Very important."

The pale ninja drooped his head. He had been here for at least two hours now. He dejectedly reached into his other pouch, for money. "How much?" He deadpanned.

The old man held up all his ten fingers.

Suigetsu's mouth dropped open. "_Too_ much!" He yelped.

The smile on the old man's face disappeared. "But I sell the best alcohol in the town. You want first aid supplies? Go somewhere else!" He made a move as if to close the shutters of his small booth.

The white haired shinobi sighed. "All right, all right. I'll take it." He sighed and reached into his money pouch, taking out a few papers. "There, there. Now _please _leave me alone."

"Sure thing, young man." The old man smiled kindly at him. "Come again!" He called after Suigetsu's retreating figure.

Suigetsu rolled his eyes as he sprinted into the edge of the forest, searching for the two kunoichi in the thick greenery.


	9. Chapter 9: The Aftermath and a party

**Chapter 9: The Aftermath and a party **

**Disclaimer:** Sorry, in my excitement to upload the chappies, forgot about this. I don't own Naruto. And this will stay the same throughout all the chapters and all my Naruto stories.

**A/N: Wow, I'm amazed by your awesomenesses! Thanks so much, everyone, for your support and reviews! Constructive criticism included! ^.^ I've done some estimations, and I think this is about halfway through the entire story. Plot thickens a bit around these chapters, and I'll introduce the "real" enemies soon, in the next two chapters or so. :) Unto the story!!**

Suigetsu slammed his wallet down on the table. "Hell, I've searched everywhere! Where are they?" The water ninja paced around the room, exasperated.

"Calm down, Suigetsu. I am nearly compelled to shut you in your room as I did with Katin. I'm sure they are both _fine_." Juugo said firmly.

In the background, a loud pounding noise could be heard that sounded like tiny fists on a wooden door.

"Sakura-neeeechannn!" A small voice howled.

"Shut up already, kid!" Suigetsu hurled towards the voice, receiving instant silence. He sighed. "Sorry, little guy. You're going to have to stay there a while as my eardrums start functioning again."

"And where the hell is Sasuke?" Suigetsu growled, clenching his fists. "It wouldn't hurt for him to help, that bastard!"

"Both Sakura and Karin are not in trouble." Juugo insisted calmly from the side. "You should cease worrying, Suigetsu."

The frustrated ninja collapsed down on the floor, sitting cross-legged on the wooden plank. "Your reasoning being?"

"I believe that Sakura-chan has regained much of her chakra lately, but she will not use her full chakra with Karin, so Karin would be fine. Karin, on the other hand, _will _be trying to use her full chakra. But after the last battle with the feudal lord and saving Sasuke, much of her potential chakra was not regained in time for this battle. I am certain her current chakra reserve is no greater than Sakura-chan's." He replied calmly.

Suigetsu frowned. "How're you sure?"

The door edged open, and they turned to the sound of the noise.

A familiar pink haired ninja with a bright smile towed in an unconscious red-head.

"Sorry I'm late, guys. I was about to bring her back right after, but I saw this new opening of a ramen restaurant! Can you believe it! It's an _Ichiraku_ branch!" Sakura announced, emerald eyes glowing and a bright smile on her face.

Suigetsu stared at the pink haired girl, who had only a few scratches on her bare arms and legs to prove her battle with Karin. "You took all this time to stop by a ramen restaurant?" He repeated slowly.

"Oh, and I brought you guys some ramen." Sakura said quickly, taking out a few orange boxes and waving them around in front of her face like a ramen commercial.

"Raaaammmmenn?" Katin's little voice asked shrilly from the bathroom.

"Is that _Katin_ I hear screaming from the washroom?" Sakura asked quizzically. "Did he get stuck in there or something?"

Suigetsu cleared his throat uncomfortably, knowing how protective Sakura was of the little boy.

"We were very worried, Sakura-chan." Juugo said sternly from the side.

"Oh." Sakura said pointedly. She smiled apologetically and dropped her arm with the ramen box. "I'm really sorry to keep you both waiting and worried, but I am well and alive. Karin did put up a good fight, though. I healed most of the bigger cuts of when she fell through the trees but I think she'll be fine for most of it."

She smiled sweetly at them. "Am I forgiven?"

Suigetsu swung a hand in her direction as he got up. "Whatever. Now that we're sure nobody died, we can probably let Katin out of the bathroom for now."

"You… what?" Sakura asked slowly.

Suigetsu gulped. "I can explain. Really. Here. I have medical supplies. Incredibly overcharged, I hope you need them. They'll…uh… be in your room."

The kunoichi rolled her eyes, a smile escaping from a corner of her lip as she watched Suigetsu walk very quickly towards the washroom to let the little boy out.

Juugo sighed. "It is good to know that you are fine, Sakura-chan."

"Thanks, Juugo. And you call me Sakura, please." She was dragging Karin back to her room. "Where's Sasuke?"

"We're not sure." Suigetsu returned as he continued back from the washroom, a frown once more upon his face. "He hasn't been back all day."

"Sakura-neechan!" Katin raced out of the bathroom and attached himself unto her leg. "You're OK!"

He looked up at her. "Is that scary, ugly lady dead?" He asked in a small voice, his black eyes large.

Sakura smiled. "Far from it. She's not going to die in my hands, believe me. I'm going to help her back to her room now."

She reappeared a minute later from Karin's room, letting out a weary smile. "She's perfectly fine, I checked. So, if you guys don't have that much to do, we can go eat in the new ramen restaurant. We can save the box ramen for later." Sakura suggested brightly.

"Yeah! Sakura-neechan! You're the best!" Katin punched the air.

"Hey, what about your wounds?" Suigetsu asked, crossing his arms.

"Wounds?" She grinned and flapped her hand. "I couldn't be better. Well, I could, I guess. But I needed the practice anyway. Come on, guys. Let's go eat!" She beamed and clapped her hands together, skipping out of the room.

"Uh, is it just me or did she get unusually hyper all of a sudden?" Suigetsu asked, one sceptical eyebrow high above his hairline.

Juugo blinked as they both followed Sakura skipping out the door. "Perhaps the adrenaline from the fight has yet to be worn off."

-0O0-

"Chicken flavoured, please." Sakura smiled at the boy behind the counter, who nodded.

"Kiddie special for me!" Katin shouted, jumping up to reach the counter and failing by nearly half a meter.

"And your friends?"

One leg resting on a seat near the counter and the other dangling below him, Suigetsu chewed on a straw and glanced up at the menu boards thoughtfully. "Vegetable."

"The Veggie Vortex Special?" The boy grinned at Suigetsu. "And you, sir?" He asked Juugo.

Juugo looked up silently. "I'll have the same, please."

"One Chicken Capiche, Kiddie Special and two Veggie Vortexes!" He called back to the kitchens.

He glanced back to see Sakura and Suigetsu trying to hide their snickers.

"Original names." Sakura commented with a straight face.

"Man, that was the best ramen I'd ever tasted!" Suigetsu complimented, sitting back in his chair.

"Mmm-hmm!" Katin agreed with a huge smile that stretched from ear to ear.

"Was it?" Sakura asked absently with a smile.

"I can't believe Sasuke and Karin missed this meal!" Suigetsu was saying.

"Are you all right, Sakura-chan?" Juugo asked quietly.

"Who, me?" Sakura snapped back to reality from her memories of the old days. "Oh, of course!" She brightened and stood up. "So, should we stay here for a little longer or what?" She asked.

"Nah, let's take a walk around. I think I'm going to have indigestion if I stay here. It's too tempting to order more." Suigetsu admitted.

Sakura laughed, as Suigetsu's face suddenly went paler than usual.

"What?" She asked.

"Do you, er, have money?"

"Are you kidding? Sasuke confiscated everything that was sharp or worthwhile in my pouch when he trapped me in the genjutsu." She frowned.

"Uh, yeah. Sasuke usually pays whenever he's with us. I think I left mine back on the table. Damn, and Karin was always saying she should keep all our wallets together for safekeeping. It's like she doesn't even trust us with our own money." He muttered darkly.

"It is not that she does not trust you, it is only that she fears you will spend too much, Suigetsu." Juugo reminded him.

"Well, screw that. What else do you use money for?" Suigetsu retorted.

Juugo shrugged. "Perhaps the only reason there is conflict in between you and Karin are because there is no understanding."  
"Thanks, this is great. I have a personal psychiatrist now."

"Cut it out! I would've never believed that even you two could get into an argument." The cherry-haired kunoichi sighed. "You two stay here, I'll take Katin and…"

"That is not an option. Sasuke specifically advised us not to leave you and Katin alone." Juugo cut in politely.

Sakura's jaw tightened, and Katin's eyes grew wide.

Something inside of her eyes clicked. So that was it. How could she forget?

Juugo looked sincerely confused. Sakura didn't blame him. After all, he's just doing his job.

"I get it now. The loss of chakra must have made my brain go numb. Sasuke doesn't want me here, but he wants Katin here. It's even better he took me along, because I'm a good little fangirl who will always tag along and then Katin will stay. You know what? I won't make your jobs harder. Katin can stay with you two. Take care of him. I'll go find Sasuke."

"Wait—Sakura!" Suigetsu shouted, as she disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.

"She does indeed look scary when she is mad." Juugo remarked.

"She says she takes after her sensei a bit." Katin whispered.

"Who would that be?" Suigetsu asked.

"I forgot her name. Suna…Sue…Suzy…something." The little boy said, wrinkling his eyebrows.

"Great." Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "Now since we're here and everything, let's order more ramen!"

"Yess!" Katin cried, jumping up in his chair.

Juugo glanced at the happy pair, and a thought crossed his mind. _Could it be Tsunade, the Hokage of Konoha? _

-0O0-

The town was busy at night. Lanterns brightly lit the entire street the young kunoichi was walking on. Small stands selling food and clothing shouted their lowest prices at each other. Sakura has been walking around town for the past ten minutes with no glimpse of Sasuke. _Where is that bastard? _She wondered tiredly.

She decided to check back in the hotel to see if he returned, and at the same time, if Karin was still OK. The kunoichi's chakra had been nearly used up, so Sakura had used a healing jutsu which is supposed to let her recover her chakra quicker than usual.

Heading back, her head filled with thoughts about Konoha once more. She felt guilty for feeling so at home with the missing nins of Hebi. She thought of Kakashi, Naruto, Sai and her friends and family in Konoha. Did they miss her? Did they think she was dead?

_They most definitely could! Yet you stand here, feeling perfectly at home with a team of missing shinobi! What the hell were you actually thinking? How can you betray everyone like this? _Inner Sakura and her common sense shrieked together.

_I don't know._ Sakura realized sadly. _I honestly don't know. _

Walking past a wall, she saw a messy arrangement of missing posters, most eaten away by the weather. Glancing casually around, her eyes widened.

It was a picture of Sasuke. And the entire team of Hebi.

Glancing around casually, she made sure no one was staring at her and started to read.

First, she read about Sasuke, and her lip curled at the words.

_Highly trained nin, ruthless and murderer of a Sannin. Missing nin. Black hair, black eyes. Last seen in near outskirts of Suna. _

She glanced at the page and it was dated a year ago. _Old news. And this has to be the most useless information poster I've ever seen. If I ever get back, I have to tell Lady Tsunade to talk to the ANBU poster boys. _

Karin's had no concrete information, except that she was travelling with an S-ranked missing nin Sasuke Uchiha, and the same with Juugo and Suigetsu.

Finished reading, Sakura glanced around subtly again to make sure no one caught her, and ripped the posters from the wall, throwing them into the trash. Sasuke's was the last she held in her hand, and she glanced down at it for a minute, but then also chucked it into the wooden waste bin.

From a distance, she glanced back at the hotel. She suddenly noticed a black and white dot on top of the roof. It seemed someone was sitting on the tiles, hands clasped in front of their face.

"So that's where he was all along." Sakura shook her head. "I should have known. That antisocial bastard."

After she left, a closed shutter in the swung open a crack, and a dark-haired woman turned to report to her boss.

_They have arrived. He is here. _

-0O0-

Sakura hopped up to the rooftop from the back gardens of the hotel, not wanting to attract attention by hopping up to a rooftop in the middle of the street. She found Sasuke, indeed, hands clasped in front of his face and one knee tucked up. His back was resting on the bricked chimney.

She hovered in behind him, now not sure of what to say. All her anger seemed to disappear at the tranquil sight of him. Her mind returned to her gentle, weak, 12 year old self.

Shaking herself out of her subtle transformation, Sakura gritted her teeth. She wanted some answers, and she was going to get them right now!

"What do you want to know?" Sasuke's quiet, calm voice floated back to her.

Sakura took a deep breath. She hated that cold voice. And what it did to her.

"I had a few." She leaned against the chimney, crossing her arms over her red tank top. "First, why are you sitting here?"

_That was so lame! Why did you ask that?_ Inner Sakura shrieked, waving a fist around.

Shut up. Sakura mentally turned off her _Inner Sakura mode_.

"Because I want to." Sasuke replied after a minute. "And I don't usually like to be bothered."

"Well, you _are _pretty antisocial, so that's no surprise." Sakura retorted. "Then why did you kidnap me?"

"I did not kidnap you. We fought, and you lost. I used you to back off Konoha ninja."

Sakura pursed her lips together. "Really? Because it would seem that you had no use for me after you used me to back off Konoha ninja. If it was only that, then why did you bring me all the way back here?"

"No one is physically restraining you to stay." He replied, a slight wind ruffling his raven hair and clothes.

"But you knew I wouldn't leave without Katin!" Sakura shrieked.

Sasuke didn't move, only his eyes moved to her face. "You are becoming more like Karin everyday. Don't do that."

Sakura growled, plopping down next to him. "I know you're in there somewhere." She snarled. "Get out of your hard shell. Where is the person I used to know? Where is the rest of Team 7?"

"I told you before." Sasuke replied smoothly. "Pretend he died."

Sakura pursed her lips and followed his gaze to the round, white moon.

"Did he, now?" She asked wistfully. "If he did, it must've been suicide. At least… at least I can say I tried now. You're too far down this road to see any sense, is that it?"

No one replied.

"After you finish your avenging quest," Sakura emphasized those words in a sarcastic tone, "do you plan on returning then?"

Getting no answer, she suddenly stood up. "I will never give up on you, Sasuke. But I never thought you would be someone who would manipulate people like this." She put her hands on her hips as she stared at the moon. "You used my old feelings for you, so I would stay. And the little boy would stay with me. Why? Why do you need him?"

There was no reply.

"It's the Akatsuki, isn't it?"

Sasuke's brow dug together with the tinniest movement.

"They want him?"

Still no reply.

"And you'll do whatever it takes to lure them to you." Sakura sighed. "It would seem that nothing has changed. You are still the emotionless bastard to everyone. But when Itachi's name comes up, you lost all traces of sanity and races out to kill him. I've always wondered, what twisted childhood made you like this that you can't give up this one grudge for ten years! I know! I know, he's killed your clan. But life has to move on someday! When are you going to stop living in the past? Wake up and—"

Sakura barely felt movement. The next thing she felt was the rough brick cutting into her tank top and arms as Sasuke smashed her against the chimney.

She glanced at him warily and his pale hands holding her wrists.

"Don't _ever _talk about my life like you know what I'm going through. You know nothing about me." He hissed vehemently. "You live in your perfect world, but you are not even aware the prices others are paying. You have no idea, Sakura Haruno. Because you're weak and defenceless and can hide behind anyone you want." Suddenly, he loosened his grip on her arms, letting them fall beside her and turned around.

Sakura frowned. "Let me see your wounds."

Sasuke glared. "Why? They're fine."

"Youhave no idea how many people said the same thing and died gruesomely two hours later." Sakura said, as she sat down beside him. "Get your back off the chimney and take off your shirt."

Needless to say, there was a minute of silence. Awkward silence.

"What is this, a monologue?" Sakura demanded, frustrated. "Or would you rather I destroy the chimney and rip off your shirt?"

Sasuke glared at her.

"Do you have an immense, ugly scar on your back, or something? Besides, do you know how many times I walked by without bothering to look up? Get a grip." Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to kill you."

The teenager turned away from her.

She timidly reached out and tugged at the collar. Sasuke slipped off his shirt.

Sakura's lips parted as she stared. Five healed scars scrawled across his pale skin. Other, newer ones slashed across his back and arms. And that was counting that she couldn't see his chest from where she was sitting.

In the middle of his back was a small black hole, identical to the size of a needle. Or more specifically, a senbon. Around the injury, there was a dark bruise-like shape that was slowly forming.

She frowned and concentrated on the wound, lifting one hand. She gingerly touched the dark bruise-like shape around the small wound.

"Does this hurt?"

Sasuke's head gave the tiniest shook.

"Weird. It looks like some sort of poison, but poisons coated on senbons are usually for paralysing or instant killing. It wouldn't do the opponent any good if you're still well and alive after two weeks. It could drain your chakra, but you'd have felt that…" Sakura reasoned, not expecting him to answer anything. "I still don't like it. We're going to have regular checkups after this. I'll heal the wounds first, though." A gentle green light glowed at the tips of her fingers, and she closed her eyes as she laid her palm on his back, using her inner chakra to explore the torn tissue under the unhealed wounds.

She felt pale skin tense under her fingers.

Slowly and carefully, she healed the wounds and made new skin cover them. She also felt Sasuke relaxing gradually under her touch.

A small, sad smile hung on her lips. _Just what the hell am I doing? _She wondered.

Unfortunately, she forgot completely about the three left at Ichiraku…

-0O0-

"I…honestly can't…eat anymore." Suigetsu groaned, one hand on his enormous stomach.

"This is very disgraceful, Suigetsu." Juugo shook his head, disgusted. "And the bill is not going to be cheap."

"You can say that again." Katin squeaked, his small stomach also filled to the brim with ramen.

He hiccupped.

"And where is Sakura?" Suigetsu asked.

Juugo stood up. It was close to closing time, and they were the only three left. "Never mind Sakura-chan. I have some leftover money from the last grocery shopping Karin made."

"What? You had money? Then why'd you get cherry blossom to run all the way there?" Suigetsu cried, trying very hard to get up.

"No one can be alone for too long without craving human company. There is no way for any of us to get close to him. She is the only one who was capable." Juugo replied.

"Yeah, screw that philosophy. Just pay up, Juugo." Suigetsu waved a hand.

"What about Karin?" Katin asked, chewing on a stray noodle left in his bowl.

Juugo threw the little boy a look on his way towards the counter and sighed. "I don't know."

-0O0-

"I strongly suggest you rest for the night, Uchiha." Sakura advised as he slipped his white shirt back on. Sakura got up from the roof to stretch her cramped muscles. "No more emo moments on the rooftop, OK? We still don't know what was injected into your system."

Sasuke frowned up at her. "I'll try to resist."

Sakura almost giggled. Then, a realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "They're still at Ichiraku's!" She grabbed Sasuke's arm. "Where's your wallet? Quick!"

The boy handed her a black, cloth-covered pouch from his back weapons pouch, his eyes never leaving her worried gaze.

"Thanks, Uchiha!" She said, her voice growing fainter as she leaped down the back garden side of the hotel.

Sasuke frowned at his new nickname as he turned his gaze back to the full moon.

Several minutes later, true to his word, he leapt down from the hotel and headed back into their chambers.

-0O0-

The four people walked through the brightly lit town, breathing the night air and struggling to walk straight. Well, Suigetsu and Katin were, at least.

"Oh, that was nice of the shop owner. So he said you didn't have to pay?" Sakura asked, but turned around to face the bloated Suigetsu and Katin. "But how could you two eat so much? What's the matter with you guys?"

"I tried to warn them." Juugo said sadly.

"Oh, shut up, big guy. You and your philosophy." Suigetsu returned.

"So what did you _do _for so long, Sakura-neechan?" Katin asked drowsily, rubbing his eyes.

The other two turned all their attention unto the pink-haired girl. They had been trying to avoid this topic, since Sakura didn't say anything about it since she returned with Sasuke's wallet.

"Nothing. I found Uchiha in the hotel and he showed me all his wounds. I healed him and gave an overall check of his systems." She replied lightly, stretching her pale arms over and behind her head.

"Oh, I see. Was he hurt bad?" Katin asked, his small voice getting lost in the crowd.

"Nah. Nothing he can't handle." Sakura shrugged it off with a smile.

"He has been taking some things pretty hard." Suigetsu added. "That last battle with the feudal lord's with the monster was, well, unexpectedly challenging."

"What happened?" Sakura asked, curiosity racing through her mind.

"We thought it was Akatsuki, at least Sasuke did. But it turned out to be not at all, there was just a rumour. That's the thing. There's no concrete evidence. They don't post up signs everywhere saying, "Hey, it's us!" And that's the other thing. They haven't destroyed anything on a big scale lately. It's all sneaky sneaky. We have no clues. And Sasuke's going mad." Suigetsu was saying.

Sakura wasn't listening to Suigetsu anymore. She glanced up at the full moon and wondered if her friends in Konoha were going mad too, wondering where she was. Guilt was welling up like pools of blood on her conscience. She had to get back to them, tell them she was all right.

_Somehow…_ she sighed.

-0O0-

A thick black hat covered Naruto Uzumaki's blond hair. He was clad in black, walking stealthily in tiptoe on the Konoha streets. He glanced around him subtly. Then, confident he was all but invisible to anyone passing by, he grinned and marched out to Konoha's gates.

Naruto's mouth dropped open at the sight of Hinata and a small dog waiting for him. "Wha…?" His head swung to and fro like a metronome.

"N-naruto-kun. I…I w-would like to accompany you t-too." Hinata said softly, not meeting his eyes as she stared at the ground, twiddling with her fingers.

"How did you… know I would be…?" Naruto spluttered, crushed that his subtly and genius may not be as keen as he thought.

"Sh-hino told me the r-ramen section has b-been emptied, and K-kakashi-sensei said he would g-go, but he was assigned a mission so he sent P-Pakkun." Hinata stammered. She stared at the floor, swallowed, and glanced up at the blonde boy. "I disagree with Tsunade-sama."

Naruto's face softened and mumbled, "I know. The old lady has gone senile."  
Pakkun sat on the ground, scratching his ear with a bored expression.

"Let's go already." The dog complained.

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned, back to his enthusiastic self and punching a fist in the air, shouted "We're gonna get Sakura back, no matter what it takes!"

Hinata smiled.

Black and blond hair set out on the road away from the village in the silvery moonlight, their backs getting smaller and smaller into the distance.

-O0O-

Sakura woke up in the morning, feeling refreshed. Then, remembering where she was, her spirit wilted. _In a five story hotel, where shinobi constantly threw themselves out of windows. _

She also realized she was woken up by hushed noises in the kitchen. More like one loud noise and another trying to hush the loud noise.

As she was opening the door, she heard her own name mentioned, and decided to stop and listen.

_After all, it wasn't eavesdropping if they were talking about her, right? _She thought uneasily, then threw the philosophy down on the floor and trampled on it. _Oh, so what? He freaking used me!_

"You don't realize the effect that—that—that ugly dog has on my Sasuke-kun!" Karin was saying loudly, hushed by Suigetsu. "It's like he's a completely different person! What the hell is wrong with him? Bewitched! She must have put up a genjustsu on him!"

(Sakura smirked quietly in her room. Yeah. As if anyone could.)

"Shut up, Karin. Not everyone wants to be waken up by you at 4 am, you know." Suigetsu groaned. "You practically _dragged _me out of my room! What's wrong with you, redhead?"

No one responded.

Sakura considered the option that she might have suffocated quietly, but decided it was highly unlikely.

"It's like he's a different person. No longer so cold, so uncaring. It's like he became more human since Sakura came." Karin pronounced the words so softly Sakura strained to hear. "He even looks at her…like that."

Sakura rolled her eyes at the pout in Karin's voice. _Sasuke with emotions? That's like Naruto giving up ramen. _

She heard Suigetsu mutter, "Full of crap" followed by the screeching of a chair on the floor. "If you want to go be all philosophical, do it on your own time."

"No, wait." Karin whined like a child with her favourite toy taken away.

Sakura could feel him sigh loudly, then, "If he doesn't even give a damn about you, why do you _care_?" She heard footsteps moving in her direction.

"No, but it's complicated."

The footsteps stopped. "I can see that. Just… just _get a life_." He paused, and hurried on quickly. "I mean…Why wait on someone not worth your time? Just because he doesn't like you doesn't mean he doesn't like _anyone_. Figure out the obvious, Karin."

The footsteps resumed until a door clanked back in place.

"Sakura-neechan?" Katin slurred, rubbing his eyes as he woke up.

Another door slammed open forcefully down the hallway, just as the main door opened.

"Heads up. We're leaving in two hours." Sauske's voice drifted into the room from the hallway. "Sakura, get up and make some food."

Sakura's eyes widened. _Did he know about the fight with Karin?_

"Hey, why are we leaving?" Suigetsu called back.

"It seems the Akatsuki is not going to come here. So I closed my eyes and stuck a pin on the map of Japan. It turned out to be that Hidden Village beside the river a few miles east." Sasuke replied sarcastically.

"And Sakura, I want my wallet back." He added.

* * *

**A/N: So this chapter is like 4800 words, a lot longer than all my other chapters. I realized a while back that my other chapters were a lot shorter than the first one, so here's an exra long one to make up for it. :D**

**As well, two things I should mention:**

**1) The older version said the next chapter will involve Sakura and a feudal lord named Rishigo, but after some changes, the plot is going to swerve in another direction. The chapter's name, I have no idea yet. I'm going to update after some small editings, and hopefully I can find a title then.**

**2) Just a heads up--the plot is going to thicken like crazy soon. Innocent people, not so much anymore. Mean people, not so much either. And our favourite antisocial bastard? Er, no, he stays the same. Well, he just gets a bit _more_ mean, especially to Sakura, but there should be a logical explanation and resolution to it. Oh, and there's another rooftop scene. teehee.**

**:) until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10: Katin's new talent

**Chapter 10: Katin's new talent**

**A/N: Hi, everyone, so here's a new chapter. Hope you like it! **

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

--------------0O0-------------

"Naruto-kun. T-time to wake up." Hinata whispered timidly from outside the orange tent.

No sound returned from inside the tent except for very loud snoring.

Pakkun sighed, and then charged into the structure.

After a few howls of pain, the tent fell down with a thump.

Hinata gasped, hands flying to her mouth.

Naruto crawled out drowsily, a large frown on his face. "What time is it, Hinata-chan?" He growled grumpily.

"I-it's almost nine, Naruto-kun." She replied quickly, before walking briskly back to the fire. "I… I made some breakfast."

"Ramen!" The blond ninja cried in joy when he saw the contents in the pot, launched himself forwards, and then turned to hug the raven-haired girl. "Thanks, Hinata-chan! You're the best!"

Heat spread up her cheeks and the heiress ducked her head down to hide her embarrassed smile.

-------------0O0---------------

Hinata and Naruto stopped suddenly, the whiskered boy narrowing his eyes, stepping forward protectively in front of the dark-haired girl.

The dark-haired teenager activated her Byakugan. Veins sprouted along her temples but suddenly retracted and she turned to smile timidly at the blond boy beside her.

"T-They're friends."

Before Naruto could ask her for specifications, a voice cut through his thoughts, "Oi. What're you two doing here?"

"Shikamaru?"

"Hinata?" Ino asked with just as much surprise, landing beside the dark haired boy.

"We're going to go rescue Sakura-chan!" Naruto explained enthusiastically, after a moment of confused silence.

"What happened to Forehead?" Ino asked, surprised.

"S-she disappeared, and Lady T-tsunade labelled her as a missing nin and w-we…" Hinata started.

"What?" Ino shrieked. "How come we haven't heard about this?" She swirled around to stare accusingly at Shikamaru.

"Couldn't be helped." The spiky-haired strategist sighed. "We were on a mission. The reception was especially bad this time of the year and we haven't had contact for a few weeks."

Ino frowned. "So how did you guys get news from her?"

The blond boy scratched his head. "Uh, we didn't."

"So you know where she is?" She pressed on.

"Well… once we start moving in a random direction, we could eventually figure out that's not the right direction, and then—" Naruto started.

Shikamaru slapped his forehead. _This is going to be so troublesome._

_---------------_0O0---------------------

Birds chirped in the morning sunlight, happily dancing above a certain red-bricked building. Pedestrians below minded their own business, occasionally glancing up to the last stage, wondering if any more teenagers were going to leap out of the roof anytime soon.

Sakura absently thought of the symbol in Ichiraku's that she made, attempting to leave a sign to Konoha ninja, particularly the number one knuckle-headed Naruto. She didn't support the idea of him charging out of Konoha to find her, but she did feel homesick and wanted, somewhat selfishly, she had to admit, him to find find her as quickly as possible.

The pink-haired girl had snuck out under the cover of "buying ingredients" and quietly vandalised a wall in the ramen shop. Not that she was the only one. There were many hearts and "A loves B forever" graffiti on the walls. She hoped they would find the one. And she made a mental note that if she ever got back to Konoha, she would make a generous donation to Ichiraku ramen restaurants.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a small, familiar voice.

"Just one game. Please, Sakura-neechan? There's so many hiding places around this hotel!"

Having just finished a succulent meal of pancakes, egg and bacon, as well as freshly squeezed orange juice (made by their newly appointed chef), most of the Hebi gang had left to pack.

With a small, energetic exception in the form of Katin, bright-eyed, with a large grin on his face.

"What? Another game?" Sakura groaned. "Are you serious?"

"Better you than me." Suigetsu's voice responded from behind a wooden wall. "My back still hurts from when he used me as a horse. The kid's sadistic _and_ overweight."

"No I'm not! That's not nice, water man!" Katin pouted, plopping his hands on his waist. "Come on, Sakura-neechan, you'll never find me!" He giggled, charging down the hallway.

"Count to twenty!"

Sakura sighed, a weary smile tugging her lips. She finished counting and folded her arms behind her back as she walked down the hallway. As much as she liked the boy, it was hard to keep up with his constant energy and ever-lasting imagination. It was like being a full-time babysitter. Being an only child, this kunoichi was not used to his random bursts of hyperactive-ness.

The child was a natural at hide-and-seek. But she was a shinobi.

She saw a distant figure as she poked her head out the trapdoor, unto the roof.

She started to grin. _There he is._ _He'll never get away this time. _

Her enthusiasm died down suddenly as she approached Sasuke, who looked a lot like Katin from the back when he wore normal clothes instead or Orochimaru's tube-belt uniform. "On the rooftop. Again? Honestly, where's your creativity?"

Sasuke glanced at her. "Sakura. I need to talk to you."

"Oh my gosh, another speech." She rolled her eyes.

He chose not to reply, instead turning back to the street. Something was frustrating him, creating the wrinkle between his eyebrows.

Pink hair ruffled in the wind, Sakura cupped her hair away from her face with one hand and turned to the street with the other. What's his problem? And what was so fascinating about the street anyways?

Three women were buying groceries. A young boy helped an old woman carry her apples. Civilians talked loudly, drinking tea and slapping each other on the back with large grins. A young girl was haggling with an old man possessing white, triangular shaped hair who sold medicine and owned a hotel. A gang of small boys were chasing each other, laughing at the vendor whose pear they stole from. Two girls passed the street, talking softly.

Green eyes softened. _Maybe he's watching how people are interacting, what he missed in his childhood. Maybe he has become a better person throughout these years. Could all he had endured make him want to give up his useless revenge on his brother? Aww… that sounds almost quite human of him. _

She forced herself to shrug. _I don't care, OK? Don't care, don't care, don't care._

"What do you see here?"

Startled, she turned to Sasuke. Brushing a few strands of pink hair away she answered. "Is this what you want to tell me about? How nice the view is from here? Or are you finally showing hormones?"

Seeing his scathing glare, she grinned and turned serious. "All right, all right. So I see people. Their lives. Happiness. Socialising? What you need to work on, obviously." She added.

"And that's the difference between you and me." He replied calmly. Sakura turned to glance at him, but his face was blank. "You see what's here. _You _see the happiness in these people. Only what is here, below you."

"As any person with perfect vision can testify." Sakura snapped, offended by his tone, though she wasn't quite sure why.

He eyed her with contempt, and a ghost of a sneer curled his lip. "But any person with a farther range of eyesight will see the couple fighting five streets up. The man stealing from the old woman. Children fighting, bullying. There is no such thing as a happily ever after among humans. We fight, we envy, we grab what we can in life. That's why you won't ever understand me."

His bitter tone shocked her. _He hadn't changed. He just grew worse. _Emerald eyes widened in realization. _He is going to destroy himself like this. _

"You and Naruto. You don't understand my life. My eyes do not see the happiness in the future. They only see the goal I have in life. I don't care what happens before or after. All you do is get in my way, chasing after me, trying to get me to kill you. When I don't, you think I still want to return. But have you considered—" Sakura's blood suddenly chilled, "—that I don't want to return? That I only spare your lives because I find them too worthless to take?"

Sakura felt her eyes suddenly fill up with tears. _What's this all about? I didn't even start this! _She fought them back, heat adorning her pale cheeks. _Why is he so mean? Why does he always look for ways to hurt others? _

Emerald eyes tightened, but her lips curled into a small smile.

"Maybe that's what you think," Sakura answered coolly, "But remember, Uchiha. You don't understand us either. You never tried. Maybe you see only the depressing side of life, you emo bastard, but I don't." Green eyes drifted back to his figure.

"That couple fighting up the street? She still loves him, even though he's destroying himself with liquor and trash. The man stealing from the old woman? He has a family to feed, one who's depending on him. He just wants a better future for his son. The children fighting? Bullying? They have no idea the girl they were picking on will persist at all her tasks with a fierce determination. Hardships build character, after all."

She shook her head, noting the cheesiness of her words. Sakura tried to convey her jumbled thoughts more coherently. "You just need new eyes, Sasuke. Then you'll see that these people commit crimes for…I don't know, passion. That there's a good and bad person in everyone. Then you'll see that happy endings are possible."

Sasuke shook his head, and to Sakura's surprise, he looked frustrated, even as his tone remained calm. "That's not the point." He glanced around impatiently. "If my brother isn't on his way here already after this long, he probably doesn't want the boy. So he has no more value to us anymore. And if you're attached to the boy, then you should leave." He glanced back seriously at her. "As soon as possible. I don't know how many of my enemies are out there, looking to find a weakling like you to hurt and kill." He said, throwing her an annoyed glance.

Blink.

Blink. Blink.

"Oh." Was the only articulate comeback Sakura could think of. "You're tactless."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "And you're a hypocrite."

Sakura laughed weakly. "I'm just thinking, what's interesting about this situation is that I actually imagined this scenario before, but not like this."

She suddenly obtained an inspiration. "Was all that chitchat and philosophy back there about you trying to not say directly that you want me to leave?"

Sasuke looked uncomfortable, and opened his mouth to counter the statement.

"Just kidding, Sasuke. No, that's obviously not it. I get it, you wouldn't come near me with a ten-inch pole, and I'm telling you that I can handle it." Sakura plastered on a fake smile.

_I can't handle it, but I can try. For you. _

"I swear to leave you alone from now on, I'll convince Naruto to never bother you again, as much as I can. I was really going to leave, a few days ago, except Katin really wanted to stay. He likes it here, apparently." Sakura trailed off.

Her heart skipped a beat as Sasuke turned toward her.

She suddenly gulped, looking into his dark eyes. _Was I blabbing there?_

He frowned at her, and she felt her cheeks burn.

Frustrated with herself, Sakura abruptly stood up. _I was blabbing, wasn't I? _

"Stop looking at me like that. I'm leaving, OK? As soon as I find Katin! We were just playing hide and seek. I'll just go and find him now." She said quickly, edging back toward the trapdoor.

She shrugged, trying to space herself as far away from him as possible. "I mean, who am _I _to interfere with your mighty goals? OK, your one goal. I'm just someone who's trying to help. Someone with a little boy to take care of. Who is going to take off in a few hours, you know? I won't stay long. Don't worry. I'm heading back to Konoha before you know it! Really, Neji's much more handsome than you. So much smarter, and at least not a traitor, you know—"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

The next thing she felt was a sudden loss of balance. Then, a sudden regain of balance.

In her haste to back away from him, she had backed up into thin air.

Dangling, she felt her arm hurting. Realizing it was because a hand was helpfully holding unto hers and preventing her from breaking her bones, Sakura blushed.

"Idiot." Sasuke mumbled as he pulled her back on the roof a second later. "I said leave, not suicide."

Almost too dazed to react, Sakura realized that it has only been about two seconds since she fell from the roof.

_Has it been so short? He's so fast. _

The face of the dark-haired boy bore once more a look of boredom as he turned back to the street.

"I…ahem. Yeah, thanks." Sakura hoped he didn't notice her red cheeks. "Leaving now. I'm sure you've got to pack and Katin's probably getting impatient—"

"No, not at all, Sakura-neechan! Just keep on going! Go on! I believe in you! You can get him to love you again!" A voice called loudly from behind the chimney. "Marry him and have children with punchy punchy skills and red eyes!"

"Yeah, this is better than soap opera. Get it on already, you two!" Suigetsu's voice added from inside the chimney.

Sakura jumped, then a vein popped in her forehead. She glanced back at the immobile Sasuke, who pretended not to hear.

"You…" She turned back at the duo and glared lightning from her eyes, cracking her knuckles. "How dare you two spy on us!" She roughly hauled both males to the trapdoor and helped them down with powerful punches.

She growled, and glared back at Sasuke. "Complicating everything, you emo bastard! Now I have to head back with a bruised reputation as a kunoichi, stumbling off a roof like that. I...I hope I never have to see you again!" She mumbled vehemently, blushing and standing at the opening of the trapdoor, under which two very much bruised victims lay.

Sasuke snorted. "If I didn't _complicate _everything, you would've returned to Konoha handicapped." He stood up and walked away, sliding his hands into his pockets.

---------------0O0----------------

"I still think he likes you." Katin mouthed from the bottom of the trapdoor, then gave her a big thumbs up. "That was pretty noble, if you think about it."

Sakura hopped down gracefully from the trapdoor, and glanced down at Katin doubtfully. "But if he did, he probably wouldn't encourage us to leave as soon as possible."

"Still. Lucky Karin's out grocery shopping." Suigetsu added, sorely rubbing the bump on his head. "And that was completely unnecessary. Why'd you hit us for?"

"For eavesdropping, offending privacy, and oh yeah, being nosy in general. I hate nosy people. They severely annoy me." Sakura grumbled. "Now who wants to find out what his relationship with me was back in Konoha?" She smiled widely at him.

When Suigetsu turned pale and shook his head, she patted his shoulder gently.

"Don't worry. Hardships build character."

Katin giggled.

Sakura's eyes softened. "And I'm going to miss you, Suigetsu. If you ever want pancake breakfast with egg, bacon and freshly squeezed orange juice, please stop by Konoha and visit."

The pale ninja grinned back. "Will do."

Just then, the door opened and Karin returned, lugging a bag of ingredients.

"Where's my lovely Sasuke-kun?" She called out sweetly. "And I may not be able to make meals, but no one's stopping me from making cookies! Didn't think of that, did she?" She grinned evilly, rubbing her hands together. "They'll be for the trip."

"Oh, ****." Suigetsu muttered, as the three remaining shinobi quickly scurried back to their rooms.

-----------0O0------------

"Do we have to leave?" Katin repeated, dark eyes wide. "Why can't we follow Sasuke and Sui and the scary lady?"

Sakura sighed, glancing up at a squirrel poster for support. "I know you worship them, Katin, however bizarre that seems. But you have to understand. My mission was to get you to the Hidden Mist Village. My teammates Sai, Naruto and sensei Kakashi went off to find the guard who betrayed you and your father. Remember? They left me to protect you. Since then, we have vanished. They'll be worried." She sighed again. _And I'll be branded a traitor, if not already. _

Katin's dark eyes widened more, and started to shine brightly.

"Really?" He gulped. "I'm sorry, Sakura-neechan. I didn't think I'd cause that much trouble. It's just, all my life, this is the first time I've felt like I was in some kind of home." The boy's cheeks reddened, and he shifted his gaze to the floor.

"Everyone here, even the scary witch lady, they're not bad people who I have to judge if I can trust. No one can be bad around you, Sakura-neechan."

Sakura was touched by his words, and reached out to fondly ruffle his hair.

"Hey. What was your childhood like, Katin?" She asked kindly, realizing she never asked before. "Was your dad nice to you?"

He shrugged, gazing at the forest outside the window. "I don't remember much. It seems to complicated. But the ambassador who asked for the mission isn't my father." He said glumly, picking at a spot on the wooden floor. "He used to make me train hard and hit me when I took a drink of water. He didn't let me play with anyone, and didn't let me keep any squirrels as pets." He pouted. "At school, everyone thought I was stuck-up because I was the ambassador's son. Which I wasn't. "

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "That sucks."

"Yeah." He nodded. "But he was the only family I had. He wasn't nice to the villagers either."

He grew silent.

The pink-haired kunoichi couldn't help sympathizing, and resisted the urge to hug the little boy.

"I'm sorry, Katin. But we have to leave. As soon as possible. We'll take this up with the Hokage of Konoha when we get back, and she'll straighten it out."

Katin looked dejected. He answered after a minute. "I suppose, Sakura-neechan."

She hated seeing the energetic little boy like this. Changing the subject, she asked abruptly, "Do you have relatives in the Hidden Mist Village?"

The boy replied, "No."

"Businesses? "

He shook his head.

_That's weird. So why did he request us to escort them there in the first place? _She was about to sneak out before he remembered to play some more. But Sakura had one more question. "Wait, you said he made you train? Train what, exactly?"

Katin suddenly looked pale. "Just physical stuff, nothing much." He mumbled, not meeting her eyes.

Green eyes twinkled mischievously. "Katin. You haven't been hiding something? You don't happen to know any—"

She whipped a kunai at him.

The instant he caught it in his hands, it turned to an empty ramen cup.

"Ninja stuff or anything?" Sakura finished with a smile.

Katin sighed and scratched his head. "Maybe some. And that was a pretty neat substitution, Sakura-neechan."

She winked. "A neat way to practice is to train on the go. We'll start tomorrow."

He groaned.

-----------0O0----------

"Thanks for tagging along, guys." Naruto grinned at Shikamaru and Ino.

"How could we say no?" Shikamaru sighed wearily as they hopped unto the next branch. "This troublesome woman dragged me along for the first mile. It's lucky Pakkun can actually still smell her scent, or else you'd have no idea where to go."

"Our mission is done, and Forehead needs our help. Besides, if she's really kidnapped, then you'll need all the help you can get, right?" Ino said cheerfully. Turning to smile innocently at her bored teammate, she added carefully, "Besides, I'm sure you have nothing better to do back at home, _right_, Shika?"

The pineapple-haired teenager grimaced at her obviously threatening tone and murmured, "Sure, sure." He glanced up at the clear blue sky. _At least if I'm with them, they'll be less likely to get assassinated by ANBUs. If Lady Tsunade did declare Sakura a missing nin and Naruto and Hinata disobeyed direct orders to come and find her, then they could be easily considered missing-nin as well. _He thought wearily. _But for a village strategist to be assassinated is a harder decision to make. _He sighed again. _How troublesome. _

"How could Lady Tsunade do something like this? Sakura's her own apprentice! And she was clearly kidnapped!" Ino said heatedly, clenching her fists.

"She didn't publicly announce it, but she put up these posters and stuff about the missing shinobi and Sakura-chan was one of them." Naruto explained. "On it, it said something like whoever goes after them will suffer _severe consequences_." He muttered darkly. "As if that could stop us."

"Yes. I-I saw them too." Hinata agreed. "P-perhaps the village elders forced her to p-put them up, knowing Sakura's f-friendship with S-sasuke-kun."

"Maybe." Naruto admitted. "I never thought it about it like that. You think they might take it down soon?"

"So she disappeared quite a while ago. So Naruto, what happened after you left her in the clearing?" Shikamaru asked.

He sighed. "We went after the third ANBU, who turned out to be dead also. Some sort of poison or something. When we came back, there were still the other two ANBU and a few drops of blood here and there, but that was it." He trailed off desperately.

"When did the Konoha medicin squad arrive?"

"A few minutes after we returned."

"So Sakura's kidnappers never met Konoha ninja? You're sure?" The lazy genius pursued.

"Yeah, I told you already. No one saw them." Naruto growled, slamming a fist into his hand. "It was all my fault. If only I'd stayed with her."

"Then you would've also gotten kidnapped. Whoever wanted to capture Forehead must've been hell of a powerful shinobi to overpower our cherry blossom." Ino cut in. "It's not your fault, Naruto."

He smiled blandly.

"Unless…" Shikamaru muttered.

"Unless what?" Ino retorted.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Theory only."

"What theory?" Ino pressed on.

"She knows that person." Shikamaru shrugged.

"It could be him, couldn't it?" Naruto asked slowly, then turned to the small brown dog. "Pakkun, you sure you can still follow her scent?"

"Funny you asked. Not her scent, exactly. But some sort of fishy scent that is much stronger than her scent but is strongly mixed with her scent." The brown dog replied, racing ahead.

"Fishy?" Naruto repeated blankly. "Did Sakura-chan fall into a lake?" He gasped.

"Idiot! Why would she come out of a lake and head in the opposite direction of Konoha?" Ino smacked his head. "It means she was kidnapped by at least another shinobi, one who smells like fish!"

"Oh." Naruto nodded in understanding, rubbing his blonde hair. "Oh, right."

Shikamaru frowned. "The little boy named Katin and his association with the Akatsuki... This confirms my suspicion, and it's most likely Suigetsu that we're dealing with here. Suigetsu of Team Hebi."

There was a stunned silence as everyone stared at Naruto.

"It is him." Naruto said ominously, then a faint grin drifted across his face. "Well, better him than someone else."

----------------------0O0------------------------------

"So I've added some of my family recipe into the ramen noodles. How about a farewell brunch, everyone?" Sakura called down the hallway. "I swear it's not poisonous."

Suigetsu stuck his head out the door. "I heard ramen?"

He exited his room and followed Juugo and Katin, chatting amiably. "I just sneezed, you know." He told them wisely.

"Is it a sign?" Katin asked excitedly. "You're going to be rich?"

"Nah, people say it means others are talking about you, or mentioned your name." Suigetsu explained.

"I heard it means you have an allergic reaction to pollen." Juugo replied.

Katin laughed.

A minute later, Sasuke hopped back in from the roof, looking grumpy at being summoned.

Only one door remained closed.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at Suigetsu, who shrugged.

Approaching the wooden door slowly, the kunoichi knocked.

"What else do you want, pink-head? You've got what you wanted, haven't you?"

Sakura grinned. "Well, right now, I kind of want you to eat some ramen."

The door opened, and Karin stuck her head out.

"What did you want, to humiliate me even more?" She snarled.

Sakura recoiled at the vicious attitude. She shook her head, and leaned toward Karin.

"You want to know a secret?" She whispered.

The red-head threw a distrusting glare in her direction, but grudgingly leaned in.

"In about one hour, I'm going to leave you guys. Never coming back. Sasuke told me today that he hates me, and I really hate him too. So he's all yours. And I made ramen to celebrate my departure from that emo bastard. Today's your lucky day, because you get the boy _and _free ramen I paid for. Sound good?"

Karin brightened, then suddenly sighed.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What?"

The red-headed kunoichi pulled the surprised Sakura into her room.

"What are you doing?"

Out of the earshot of curious shinobi, Karin took a deep breath, and SMILED AT SAKURA.

Sakura cringed away at first, but then realized Karin looked really friendly when she smiled.

Karin glanced down at the floor, then suddenly said, "I know I was a witch to you. I am. I'm a horrible person. That's why no one likes me." She admitted grudgingly, glancing up at Sakura, "Yeah, but I wasn't always this way. Never the prettiest or smartest, I soon discovered being nice never works. None of the guys I liked even noticed me." She fiddled with her hair. "Then, I found out, that if I bothered and annoyed them, then at least they would notice me."

Karin laughed to herself. "I've only just realized how stupid that is. Honest. So how do you do it, Sakura? How do you get Sasuke, Suigetsu, Juugo, and Katin to all like you? They admire you."

Sakura smiled uncertainly. "What do you mean, _how _do I do it?"

"What's the formula, really? How far do you go to get them to like you, but not to think you're annoying and clingy? What do you do to make them trust you, and not just keep you around for your abilities? How do you show them you care?" Karin asked eagerly.

Taken back by her strange attitude and sudden change of personality, Sakura shook her head. "You don't know. I don't, at least."

Karin deflated, and the eagerness faded out of her voice.

"Well, that was useless. Didn't think you'd tell me anyways. Girls like you keep this top secret stuff to themselves."

Sakura laughed. "What am I, a specialist in guys? I'm nothing of that sort, Karin. But what I can tell you about is my experience. Want to hear some of that?"

Karin considered it, then shrugged. "Whatever."

The pink-haired girl sat down next to Karin on the dark blue carpet, purposely turning her back to the enlarged poster of Sasuke Uchiha on the wall.

"I guess we have time, seeing as the ramen's still cooling off right now." She smiled.

"So…I was an only child. When I was little, I really, really liked Sasuke. But I was always doing the wrong thing near him. I was either too quiet and he didn't notice me, or I was too loud and he thought I was annoying. But while I was worshipping Sasuke," she saw Karin's lips twitch at the familiar concept, "there was someone else. Someone who was probably better suited for me than anyone else. Someone who wanted to protect me, give me a shoulder to cry on when I needed it. But because I was so busy chasing after Sasuke, I never considered the feeling of anyone else." Sakura swallowed uneasily, thinking back to when she cruelly rejected Naruto's advances.

"I'm not saying you should give up on Sasuke. I encourage you to go for it, but not in the way you are right now. Be nice, but don't let his responses determine your life. Act less interested than you are in him, and this way, you'll have a better control over your own actions. Then, you can open your eyes to other people around you and decide if anyone else is better suited for you." Sakura paused, thinking of anything else possibly inspiring that she could say.

She glanced at Karin, and was surprised to see the girl totally hooked on her words.

"So, what about you and Sasuke? Do you still…?" Karin asked hesitantly. "I don't mean to pry, if you don't want to tell me. I think Suigetsu meant you two being the naturally together pair, and I can see it too, now—"

"Whoa, no! Not going there. In my past, I have pitched into the Sasuke-fangirl-hole too hard and too fast for me to pull myself out. I don't know if I ever will. But I'm trying to climb out, trust me. Trying very hard. Don't worry about me. Go for him, if you've decided that's what you really want." Sakura smiled.

Karin smiled back.

It was a nice, friendly smile, reminiscent of a small girl with rich auburn hair, who glanced sadly at the laughing boy in the middle of a crowd of friends. A small girl who daydreamed about the day her Prince Charming, who would come to sweep her off her feet and take her to the magnificent castle. A small girl who knew she was very average, but still hoped for a happy ending.

A small girl who went up a few twisted paths to achieve that dream.

"We're really very alike, you know. So if you think what I'm doing is great, then there's no doubt that you can do it too. Right?" Sakura added.

Karin took a deep breath. "Right." She nodded. "Never thought I'd say this, but I might just be a bit sad to see you go. We _are_ quite alike, now that I think about it." She shrugged. "Now let's go eat some ramen, before Suigetsu inhales all of it."

Sakura nodded seriously. "Good point."

-----------0O0---------

Enjoying ramen in cups, the Team Snake plus Sakura and Katin were sitting around the kitchen table in the red-bricked hotel.

The redheaded girl was flipping through a magazine, sipping ramen noisily, occasionally complimenting Sakura's family recipe to be a rich combination with the ramen flavours, greatly surprising her peers.

Beside her, the water nin filled another bowl, while talking to Juugo about the art of carrying water bottles everywhere. Katin interrupted, asking whether he often had to go to the washroom.

"I'd prefer you not answer that." Sakura cut in with a smile. "Please don't talk while you eat."

"I'm not _talking_, I'm just verbally transmitting information." Suigetsu winked at the pink-haired girl.

"Although equally useless." Sasuke retorted from beside Juugo. "Maybe you'll get injured around the mouth area sometime, Suigetsu. I'll keep my fingers crossed."

Karin stifled a smile, but otherwise remained silent of any far-fetched compliments on Sasuke's face or body.

The pale ninja grinned mysteriously and wiggled his eyebrows. "I see you've become more chatty lately, Uchiha. Trying to impress someone?"

Sakura took her fork out of the cup and turned to look at Suigetsu. "That doesn't sound like your business, Sui. Are you trying to be nosy?" She asked teasingly.

"Oh no, just being very perceptive."

"I see."

"I'm done!" Katin announced. "Sakura-chan, water man, want to come play outside with me?"

"Water man?" Suigetsu grumbled and raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Sorry, little guy. I have some more packing to do back here." He eyed the last ramen cup.

Katin pouted, pumping his arms by his sides. "But I wanted to play horsie!"

"I'll come with you. I'm done too. And Katin, you should show me that new jutsu I taught you today."

The boy's face fell slightly, but he nodded anyway.

------------0O0------------

"Very good." Sakura smiled encouragingly, silently wondering where on earth he attained this skill.

"You're amazing. Look at what you've done. I can't believe I never noticed your chakra amount before. There's an enormous chunk of it inside you."

Panting, the boy collapsed beside a tree. He grinned. "I know. He always said I was special. For what reason, he never told me. But I'm special, all right."

Katin glanced at the rows of trees he whipped off with a single lash of dark blue chakra.

"But what's even more special is that not only do you have large reserves of chakra, you can also control it very precisely. With a slight bit more work, you could easily become a healer, as well as a good long range attacker." The pink-haired girl said.

Katin blinked. "I can _heal_ with chakra?"

She nodded. "That way, you don't have to only use your chakra to break things."

"Wow." He whispered in wonder.

"Well, I'm heading back for now. We have to pack too, remember? Let's go." She held out her hand.

Katin took it, suddenly hesitant. He smiled when she asked him if anything was wrong, but he replied silently.

_Everything. Everything is wrong. _

_Forgive me, Sakura-neechan. _

The little boy's dark eyes filled with emotions of regret far beyond his age.

----------0O0----------

"In a few days at most, I'm going to lose their scents." The dog said wearily. "And I think I'm getting a cold."

"A few days? But where are we going to go if we don't find the scent anymore?" Naruto demanded. "And can dogs even get colds?"

"Of course they can." Ino rolled her eyes. "Duh."

"We'll have to travel non-stop for the next few days, then." Shikamaru responded. "Let's rest for today. Get ready to not sleep tomorrow."

"Medicine training all over again." Ino grumbled. "No coffee, too. How am I going to survive?"

---------0O0---------

"Noo!! I lost my last bag of shrimp-flavoured ramen!" Naruto whined, bashing his head on a tree trunk. "What am I going to do?"

Ino grimaced from beside Shikamaru. "You'd think I'd be used to this behaviour by now. But no, it still shocks me. The immaturity of men."

Hinata licked her lips nervously, before mustering up the courage to approach the stressed Naruto.

"I…I have another few bags here, Naruto-kun." She said quickly, thrusting the bags at him.

Dazed, Naruto turned to her. He stared at her.

Hinata blushed.

"Wow… You're so great, Hinata!" He hugged her in happiness. "Want to share these with me?"

She tried hard not to pass out.

From across the fire, the blonde girl grinned at the scene. "I wonder when he'll figure it out."

"Considering it's Naruto, I'll give him a few more years." Shikamaru murmured absently, staring intently at the fire.

Ino knew better than to interrupt his thinking process. "Going for a walk. Back in a bit."

"Don't break a nail."

She rolled her eyes. "Repeat that again in Konoha, when I'm not saving my strength, and I'll punch your guts out."

"I'll keep that in mind." He grinned.

Ino hid a smile.

---------------------0O0--------------------------

Sakura lead Katin to an enclosed area of the forest. She knelt down to his level. Opening her hand, she cupped a small bird. It feebly flapped its wings, and let out a sharp shriek.

Katin's eyes widened.

"No, I found it like that. I didn't hurt the bird. I swear." Sakura declared, seeing Katin's large eyes fill up. "Remember. Follow the flow in its body. Don't counter it. Remember that a bird's anatomy is different from the human's. Remember the diagrams we drew."

Katin concentrated his eyebrows into a tight line, and nodded severely.

Before taking the bird from her, he said suddenly, "I never tried to heal anything before. I always destroyed things. So I was wondering… will it all come back to me one day? Will healing things help?"

Blinking away surprise, she pursed her lips.

After a moment, she replied, "The thing is, most of us destroy. It's part of being a shinobi. It's never right. We have to do what we should do in order to keep the innocents safe. But if we put our strength to making enough amendments, maybe it'll balance out one day." She looked at him regretfully.

"I'm sorry that I can't provide a good enough explanation to that statement. The thing is, I don't know. But I believe if you try to be good, you will be."

"But what is good?"

"Well…" Sakura glanced up thoughtfully. "Everyone has their own definition. But when the time comes, you'll know." Seeing a confused look of the boy's face, she joked, "Generally, it's not the side that's killing all the nice people for no reason and trying to take over the bodies of young boys."

Katin laughed. He remembered the stories Sakura told him of her childhood.

"However, we can continue this deep discussion later, when the birdie's not trying to die here in my hands."

The little boy took a deep breath.

_For Sakura-neechan. _

"Here goes." He whispered.

* * *

**A/N: So next chapter consists of Sasuke and Sakura meeting with a new enemy, who is going to be the main antagonist for the rest of the story. The Konoha bunch might possibly encounter the Hebi Team, but I'm still not sure of that yet. **

**Stay tuned! ;) **


	11. Chapter 11: Twists

**Chapter 11: Twists and Turns**

**A/N: Sorry, it's been a while! So… in the next few days, two chappies will be coming up, woohoo. I don't know if I told you guys enough, but I really really appreciate your comments, even if they're just telling me to hurry up and get on with this, haha. Seriously. I've actually read all 131 of them so far. Hoping to read more too. *Wink wink nudge nudge* Jokes, you guys. I'll be grateful if you even want to continue reading the story. **

**In summary, thanks so so much for your support! **

-0O0-

"Scary lady! Water man! Mr. Emo Bastard!" Katin screeched, racing into the apartment. "I healed it! All by myself!" Katin pointed to the bird shrieking around the room as he barged into all the rooms, one by one.

No one was home.

Stunned, Katin stood in the middle of the hallway as Sakura, behind him, gracefully carried a bag of groceries unto the table. "That was absolutely amazing, Katin. I can't believe that you healed a living bird in _one _try. And Lady Tsunade thought _I _was gifted. Honestly. Wow." She said, then stopped.

"Where… did they all go?" The little boy asked, turning to Sakura.

The pink-haired girl glanced at the empty rooms, walking around and into each room.

"Did they leave early?" She frowned. "That's sudden. This doesn't make any sense. Something must've…Katin?"

The boy was trembling on the floor. His small frame was silently shaking violently.

"Katin!" She gasped. "Are you OK? I should've know the healing would drain his chakra, but…"

The door slammed open, and a red-headed girl raced in.

"Sakura! Come fast! You need to help Sasuke!"

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Karin swallowed, then said rapidly, "It's Sasuke-kun. Something's wrong. He collapsed, and we took him into a healer's hut. But he can't do anything for him, so you, you're a healer, and he didn't want me to ask you, but…"

A tear dropped down from Karin's lashes.

Sakura stared at her, then glanced back at Katin shaking less violently now on the carpet. She turned and approached the boy. Shaking her head, Sakura took a deep breath and put a hand on his shoulder.

An eyelid fluttered open.

"It's OK, Katin. You're just exhausted from the healing. I should've thought of this, but you seemed find right after. So you just need to rest for a bit, and eat something else besides ramen."

"Don't worry about me, Sakura-neechan. You should go see him. If I have a problem, I'll shout or something. You'll be close, right?"

Sakura patted his hair gently. "Yes. Don't worry."

Quickly fumbling through a hand sign, Sakura made two shadow clones of herself.

"Take care of him, guys. Get him unto a bed, and fetch a glass of water." Sakura instructed. "Go out and buy some vegetables, and a chicken. Make him some soup."

-0O0-

"You summoned me, Madame?" A small figure knelt by the door of the dark room.

"Yes, dear. I'm sure you're aware of the constant surveillance your side has been under, but I would like to hear your side of the story. Was it easy sneaking out?"

"Piece of cake." He smirked. "They suspect nothing. I just had to destroy the clones watching me before I could come meet you, Madame. The plan is going perfectly."

"Yes, but the girl." A slight dimple appeared near her lips, betraying her worry. "She is quite a character. Not only does she have the Uchiha in her palm, but also the others. Even the redhead, who clearly has an attitude problem, is developing respect for her." Silver fingernails stroked across a pale chin.

"Let me think. We will have to do something about her. Or even better, use her connections with every member of Hebi to our advantage. We won't kill her unless necessary, of course. She would be a valuable part of our army, if she survives the conversion to one of us."

The small figure stirred.

"What is it?" The lady asked sharply.

"Nothing, Madame."

"Don't lie, Katin. You're a part of me."

The little boy hesitated. "Is it truly necessary to captivate the rest of Hebi for Sasuke Uchiha alone? All we need are his Sharigan eyes, to empower our clones. We have no need for extra people, and the process of modifying their cells is deeply costly to us."

"My dear Katin, are you trying to spare their lives?" A cold chuckle echoed across the long room. "Were you were thinking of quitting us, and joining them? Abandoning ship, perhaps?"

Her amused tone didn't betray the mysterious glint in her eyes.

In the shadows, Katin frowned. "Never, Madame. My life is given by you, and it is yours to take. I only do not see it worthwhile to take their lives, as—"

"But I do." The graceful woman rose from her seat, long silver hair trailing on the cold, marble floor. "We went through all this work, carefully planning and hiding ourselves, for Sasuke Uchiha's eyes. We dressed up as false Konoha ninja, and lost many members to him. The moment your senbon pierced his skin, he should have been under our control. But his instinct to protect the girl and get her to safety overpowered the drug…" She sighed dramatically, "Now we have to get rid of the girl before the drug slowly destroys him, from inside out. We planted eyes near the hotel too. All this work, so we can obtain the Sharigan without causing war throughout the country. And when we have it, along with our other abilities, our new clones will be unstoppable. Isn't that right, Katin?"

"Yes, Madame."

"Come here, dear boy."

Katin stood up, and walked over to her.

Mechanically.

Emotionlessly.

"Yes, if only the other Uchiha we obtained years ago wasn't so fragile and died so easily, perhaps you would've had the ability by now." She glanced down sorrowfully at him, then smiled. "But if the rest of the clones turn out as sweet as the first bunch, like you, I can't be more grateful."

"Now, the most important part of the plan is underway. Your part in this is over, Katin. Proceed to the underground labs."

"Yes, Madame." Katin bowed.

-o0o0o0o-

"I'm afraid there's nothing else I can do for him, though you're welcome to let him stay in this room for as long as you want. Such a pity, I'm sorry." The healer bowed his head, "I think it's time to say your last words."

Suigetsu grabbed his collar, slamming him against the wall. "What kind of a diagnosis is that? Listen up, man! You're a healer! Isn't healing people what you're supposed to do?"

The man glanced back feebly at the pale ninja. "Not when the patient is this sick. If I was a specialist and highly trained healer with a few miracles up my sleeve, then it may have been possible a few days ago. I'm sorry."

"Damn straight you're sorry! Is that all you can say?" He let go of the man in exasperation, and turned to the patient on the bed.

Fists clenched on the sheet, veil of sweat covering his face, the young man's skin was pale white.

Juugo looked on worriedly from the side.

"How can one hour do this to you, man? What's wrong with you? What about all those—OK, that _one _goal? Killing your bro? What about world domination? How're you going to do that when you're cold and freezing under a grave?" Suigetsu paced around.

"Suigetsu." Sasuke hissed from the bed. "I'm not going to die. Get Karin back here"—he coughed uncontrollably— "and leave Sakura out of this."

"Then get up and do me a jig, why don't you, if you're so tough?" Suigetsu snorted, as the sound of footsteps crashed through the door.

Throat parched, Sakura felt her eyes expand upon seeing the sight of Sasuke, who stared back at her in shock.

Sakura felt her hands tremble, and balled them into fists.

She turned to Karin. "Did you say this was the right house? 'Cause this can't be Sasuke."

"Go. Away." Sasuke spat out, turning to face the wall. "I don't need help."

"OK, that's him all right." Sakura tried to sound nonchalant. "And you're in no position to refuse treatment."

After conferring with the healer, Sakura took a deep breath. To Sasuke's back, she declared, "It seems you might just get your wish of never seeing anyone you care about again." She said bitterly, before kneeling down beside the bed. "But we'll see."

-0O0-

"There's a toxin inside your body, and it came from the senbon wound, judging by the way it inflated and the bruise has spread _all over your back_ within the course of one night!" Sakura said sarcastically, covering up her bubbling, confusing pool of emotions inside. Fear, worry, sadness? She wasn't so sure.

Pale, Sakura glanced distastefully at the large wound on his back, and her eyebrows knitted together with worry.

As Sasuke coughed violently in reply, she handed him a handkerchief. When he pushed it back roughly, she was astonished to notice blood on the back of his hand, from covering up his cough.

_The healer's right. Without knowing what this toxin is, it's almost impossible to heal him. His body is deteriorating with the effect of the drug, so there's no time to do tests and identify it. I don't see any other way to keep his life. _

_Unless…_

"You're going to have to sit up." She instructed. When he made no movement to do so, Sakura and Karin moved him into a sitting position.

"I can do it myself." He grumbled, but made no movement to stop them.

"We can see that. You're perfectly healthy." Sakura replied sarcastically.

Sasuke coughed furiously.

"It's great how you two are so friendly, even on the brink of death." Suigetsu retorted, "Just hurry up already!"

Sitting down directly behind him, Sakura took a deep breath. _I'll heal what I can, then I'll use the jutsu. _

She placed her palms on his back, and concentrated.

A soft green glow radiated from long, pale fingers.

-0O0-

"Much better." She smiled down at Sasuke, dozing peacefully on the pillow.

She found herself staring at his face, now less of an unhealthy chalky colour. Before she could filter her actions, Sakura reached out and gently pushed away a lock of dark hair from his face.

_He looks so serene, like an angel. _She thought fondly, and then mentally smacked herself. _NO! Bad Sakura! Gah! Stop! _

Suddenly, she felt an excruciating pain up her back. Gasping and clutching the small of her back, Sakura collapsed on the floor. Swiftly passing a glowing hand over her back, the pain lessened as the skin underneath healed temporarily.

Breathing hard, she glanced back at Sasuke's calm face.

"He's so not worth it." She sighed. "So why did you do this again, Sakura?"

Holding unto the edge of the bed to steady herself, the petite pink-haired girl gave one final glance at the figure on the bed, now with a small smile on his lips.

"He looks so smug, even in his sleep." She rolled her eyes. With that, she left the room.

Walking outside to where Karin and Suigetsu were waiting, the pinkette commented, "Interesting how my healing skills, during this whole trip during which I can usually complete two missions, only benefited one person."

"Saved one life, you mean." Karin added softly. "That's one more life than I can ever save."

Sakura smiled. "Don't worry about that, at least you didn't waste five years of your life in front of books. And I'm not going to stay long, I promise."

The red-headed girl shook her head. "That's not it. I…I want you to stay, Sakura. I…I think Hebi need you. You're a part of us now."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"Finally, the crazy red-head speaks something sensible." Suigetsu declared from beside Karin, throwing his hands up to the heavens. "Thank goodness."

She jabbed him in the stomach. "I don't remember saying I want _you _to stay, Suigetsu."

He shrugged. "You don't have to say it," He wiggled his eyebrows, "I know you all are secretly in love with me."

Karin and Sakura exchanged an amused look.

"So what'd you do, exactly?" Karin asked Sakura. "I'm not much of a healer, but I've studied a bit of anatomy before. That jutsu looked really familiar."

"Well, nothing much." Sakura replied uneasily, tucking a strand of pink hair behind a ear, "Just a jutsu my sensei taught me."

_Just a forbidden jutsu, you know, no big deal. _She added mentally.

Karin nodded. "And would she be the Hokage of Konoha?"

Sakura reeled, asking, "How did you know?" Then, realizing her mistake, Sakura smiled sheepishly. "That was a lucky guess, wasn't it? I just gave it away."

The red-head laughed. "Not so smart for once, girl. She's a great healer, we've all heard about her."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, she is. You and Suigetsu stay here and look after Sasuke. I'm going to go back and check on Katin."

She started to leave, then turned around. "I really appreciate you guys considering me part of the group, but I think I've going to leave for Konoha tomorrow."

She nodded at them, and disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.

"Katin? I'm back!" Sakura called, trying to sound cheerful despite the heavy coat of weary that was enveloping her.

There was no answer.

Pale hands started to tremble again as a smashed bowl came into her vision.

A messy bed.

A broken window.

Smashed doors.

No sign of life.

Dashing madly around the hotel room, Sakura gasped for air, fear boiling up her lungs.

She wrenched a piece of paper off the kitchen wall.

She swore loudly.

_Meet us at the Ichiraku ramen shop at midnight. Bring Sasuke Uchiha, if you want to see the boy alive again. _

_Don't be late, darling. _

The note was unsigned.

Goosebumps rose on her pale skin. The note seemed to taunt her, reminding her of a blotched mission and her abandoned teammates.

_My stupid, young love for Sasuke kept me here. _

_My stupid emotions made me lose Katin. _

_My stupid conscience is now making me pay the price._

She didn't understand the reason why the note was there, or what they wanted with Katin. She didn't care if they murdered her outside of Naruto's favourite restaurant.

"I'll be there." She said to the note.

"_Sa. Ku. Ra."_ Sasuke mumbled in his slumber, twisting the bed sheets under his fingers.

Karin, on the chair next to his bed, awoke to his moans, raising a mane of red hair groggily.

"Sasuke-kun?" She asked sleepily. "What is it?"

He twisted and turned, caught in an unspeakable nightmare. Clenching the sheets, his forehead covered in sweat.

"Sasuke-kun!" Karin tried to restrain him, so he wouldn't hurt himself.

She touched his forehead.

It was burning hot.

"It seems you have a fever too, Sasuke-kun. I'll go and call—"

A pale hand suddenly captured her wrist.

"_Sakura." _

"_Don't leave me." _

Karin tensed.

Then, she gently pulled her wrist away from his hand.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"She won't."

-o0o0o0o0o0o-

It was 11:55 am.

Sakura hugged her arms around her small body, trying to capture some of the escaping body heat. She shivered.

The ramen restaurant was closed. The streets were dark and empty. The wind blew noisily, scattering leaves and dust.

_Perfect for a horror movie. _She thought grimly.

A cloud of dust rose up, engulfing her vision. The wind howled in her ears, robbing her of sight and hearing.

When it died down, she saw two figures standing on the street.

"K-Katin?" She gasped, hands flying to her mouth.

The boy who looked like the one she had tried to protect and teach didn't reply. Even in the dim light, she could clearly see the void of emotions in his eyes.

"No, dear, that's not the Katin you know. This is Thirty-Six." A tall, graceful woman with silvery hair smiled.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The one you knew was one of the few we gave names to. The name Katin originated from the name of my only love. It's a good name for such a darling, smart young boy."

Sakura frowned. "What are you saying? They're boys, not—" Her eyes widened, and cherry pink lips opened to form a shocked expression.

The beautiful woman smiled, folding her arms behind her back through the long, flowing robe. "Yes, Sakura. They're clones. The one you met was the best of the bunch."

Pale hands started to shake, the third time that day.

"I-if Katin was a clone, then why—mph!"

A tendril of silvery hair lashed out, and covered her mouth.

"Please listen to your elders when they speak, my dear Sakura." The lady smiled soothingly, despite Sakura's best efforts to break loose of the gag.

"Now, I see that you failed to bring Sasuke Uchiha." She smiled sadly. "And here I was thinking of leaving Team Snake out of this, and just taking him and you."

"No matter, we'll go fetch him after we've capture you, Sakura darling. It seems we will have to bring the rest of the famous Hebi crew along too. They were your friends, weren't they? And what about the Konoha bunch who's chasing after you right now? I hear they're quite close with you too."

Sakura turned, whipped a kunai out of her pouch and sliced the hair off, freeing her mouth to talk.

"You're not getting close to them." She snarled, holding the weapon in front of her protectively. "Not over my dead body."

Glancing down absently at perfect, silvery nails, the glowing lady sighed. "Pity. I was going to save your traits for the clones too. You have a very nice figure and face features, they'll look great on the new girl clones. I wonder if _you'll_ survive the change, though." She murmured, smiling slyly.

The pink-haired girl glanced up to the heavens. "Why do I get to meet all the psychos in this country?" Sakura pleaded. "Why is it always me, _why_?"

"Realize that I only spared you this long because your lifelong dedication to one boy warms my heart. You're one of the little people who almost make me believe in a possible true love again." She laughed, a twinkling sound that echoed across the empty space. "Only for a second, though."

Sakura clenched her teeth. "Well, I'm finally met a stalker and a creeper. Two in one. You're amazing."

The lady glanced up at her, perfect almond eyes glittering mischievously. "Most underlings don't understand. All right, enough talk, I suppose you're not going to come without force, dear."

"Force? Right. What do you take me for, a twelve year old?"

"No, just a deeply sentimental girl, trying to protect herself with words." She smiled. "When you feel it's too much and want to join us, let me know."

"Only when pigs start to fly." Sakura snapped, and whipped two kunai in her direction.

While easily catching the weapons, the woman's hair stretched out towards Sakura, shaping themselves into sharp points.

Pink hair flying, Sakura flipped back into the bushes to avoid the tips, throwing another two kunai on the way.

"Please." The woman smirked. "Make an effort."

A tendril of white hair snaked into the bush unnoticed, creeping toward Sakura's feet. Before the girl could respond, it snaked up her body and bounded her hands. The tendril was joined by another mass of silver hair, and slowly tightened around her mouth, nose, legs, and pink hair.

_Poof! _The Sakura-clone exploded.

The woman looked up uninterestedly to glimpse the real Sakura coming down from the sky, fist raised in a chakra-enhanced punch.

Placing her hands up in the air, she made as if to smooth out a piece of fabric in mid-air.

Sakura's eyes widened as she hit the shield. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she was sure of one thing.

The woman just made a sheet of lightning appear out of thin air.

Gasping and shaking on the ground, Sakura felt as if her body was on fire.

"And that was just a level one shield. Really, I'm disappointed."

Emerald green eyes glared back in fury. Trembling, Sakura's teeth chattered. She slowly got up, the electricity fading from her body.

Clutching her bloody knuckle, the pink-haired girl rose, on shaking knees.

The woman smiled. "Are you going to change your mind?"

"After I kick your ass all the way to Suna!"

Sakura gritted her teeth, determination burning through her body, helping her regain movement.

_Crap, I've already spent too much chakra on Sasuk'e healing. And this woman's crazy. Short range attacks don't work, and long range doesn't too well either. Is my plan even going to work?_

Lifting her eyes, Sakura grabbed two kunai and whipped them at the silver-haired beauty. The explosion tags at the back of the kunai forced her to take a step back, right into a pile of smoke bombs and explosion tags she planted earlier.

_Kaboom!_ A bright cloud rose up outside the clearing beside Ichiraku, scattering the scarce wildlife away.

Taking advantage of her opponent's temporarily blindness, Sakura reached up with her left hand and punched the ground with all her might, leaving a long, thick scar into the ground.

Resting her hands on her knees, the girl doubled over, panting. Through the curtain of her shoulder-length pink hair and the dull pain on her back from healing Sasuke, Sakura peered at the bright cloud of explosions.

She straightened up a moment later, frowning slightly.

Leaping back just in time, another wave of lightning bolts barely missed Sakura, revealing underneath the cloud the glittering shield of lightning which protected the woman.

"Not bad. Not exactly what I'd expect, though. Of course, I have taken into consideration that you're short of chakra and sleep, and you have just used a forbidden jutsu."

Sakura tensed involuntarily, then relaxed.

Then, she smiled. "I'm just not surprised anymore at what you know. You're good at what you do."

The woman frowned, a wrinkle sitting between her perfect, silver eyebrows. "Don't you know the jutsu just cost you five years of your life? You're young, beautiful, smart and powerful. Why did you give up five years for him?"

Pink hair fluttering in front of her face, Sakura seemed to consider the question. Then, she replied with a smile, "None of your business."

The beautiful lady looked amused. "It's been a while since I've seen anyone so selfless. Sure, young people in love say it all the time. But who really means it? If only my love did. Then maybe none of this would've started."

"I'm not in love with him." Sakura snapped. "Whatever you do to him, I wouldn't care."

"Denial. Classic." The lady regained her cool composture. "No matter, what's done is done. I would've liked to try more of your abilities, but I think we should get you back now."

Sakura twisted her right heel in the dirt, creating a small crater. "Bring it on."

"Oh no, not me. Thirty-Six can do that for me. Tell me when it's too much."

"You're using child labour? Hey, we're not done yet! What—"

The small boy suddenly appeared in front of Sakura, his cold face not showing a trace of emotion.

"I'm sorry, boy-who-looks-like-Katin, but if she thought your look alike could charm me into surrendering, it's not going to work!" Sakura murmured, swapping away the boy in one shot.

She charged at the silver-haired lady, left fist raised. In a flash, Sakura felt wind behind her, and swipe her fist back.

She heard a surprised sound as the silvery haired lady flew back toward a tree. Her body vanished in mid-air with a _poof!_

Swerving around, Sakura dodged a lightning charged fist from the real version and shot out her foot, landing in a roundhouse kick. Bending her head back, she narrowly missed a strand of lightning hair.

Suddenly, the lady disappeared.

A pair of red eyes replaced her, and Sakura was forced to stare into the eyes of Thirty-Six.

"Take a look into the future." Thirty-Six said.

_Oh crap. _Sakura thought. _He has the Sharigan. _

_She had a vision of a rain of kunai and senbon. _

"_This isn't real! It's fake! Ow!" She clutched her bleeding arm, caught by a senbon. Moving behind a tree, she froze as she saw dark orange hair inside a large pool of blood. _

_Juugo, covered in blood. Dark marks slowly retreated over his still body, and Sakura gasped at his multiple wounds. _

"_No." She whispered. "This isn't true. It's an illusion." _

_Then she saw Naruto, three feet away._

_Lying on the ground. _

"_Sakura-chan!" He gasped for air, eyes widening in surprise. "We went out to look for you! But we were ambushed. Why… why did you leave with him?" He gasped before a dark, maroon liquid pooled out of his mouth and he fell back. _

"_I didn't…Naruto!" Sakura gasped. _

_Hinata sudden charged out of the undergrowth. _

"_Naruto-kun!" Weeping over Naruto, the pale-eyed heiress put herself directly in the line of fire. _

"_Hinata! Move out of the—" Sakura screamed, tears now streaming down her face, watching the Hyugga heiress's dark hair turn maroon with blood as kunai and senbon found their target. _

"_No… no, this, this is fake. It's an illusion." Sakura repeated to herself, covering her ears with her hands. _

_Eyes squeezed shut, the vision still appeared fresh and clear._

_Shikamaru battled a crowd of Katin-look-alikes beside Suigetsu, his oversized sword weaving in and out of the crowd. _

"_This should be illegal." The water nin muttered. "I know they're clones, but this is like hurting loads of children. That you played hide-and-seek with." _

_Shikamaru spared him a glance. "This is the most troublesome part, actually. Once we're clear of this, we can rescue them." _

"_Hmn. If we get past this crapload of children and traps, we'll see." A familiar redhead muttered from beside the water nin, weaving webs of chakra around her. _

"_This shouldn't be a problem, we've kicked bigger asses than this before!" Ino shouted over to them. _

_The lazy genius smirked, the expression suddenly freezing on his face. _

_A look of shock came across Ino's face as she stared at Shikamaru, with two kunai buried in his chest. _

_Her invisible opponent took this opportunity to hit a vital point. All Sakura could see was Ino falling back unto the ground, the look of shock still on her face. _

_With no one to protect his sides, Suigetsu shouted, buried under the swarm of little boys._

_Karin swerved around, but not before an invisible blow knocked her into the ground, creating a deep crater. _

"Hungry for more, dear? Or did you change your mind, and wanted to come with us?" A soothing voice asked.

_Sakura, still stuck on the battlefield, no longer paid attention to her. Her throat ached with screaming, tears ran freely down her face. Her knuckles were beaten and bloody from punching the earth repeatedly. _

"_This isn't real. Stop. Make it stop!" _

"It is, dear. It's as real as you imagine it to be." The voice replied smugly.

_Suddenly, on the battlefield, she glimpsed a familiar figure. _

"_No. Not him too. Please."_

"Do I hear you begging, my dear Sakura?"

"_I…I…"Sakura bit her lip, watching Sasuke's figure come closer. _

_You're being predictable. She told herself, no longer feeling the tears raining down from her thick lashes. Stop being so predictable. _

"_Of course I don't care about him. Why would I?" She gathered up her wits. "I only pretended to care, so I could lure him back to Konoha. Did you know that was my other secret mission? To get Sasuke, at all costs, back to Konoha? He's going to be awarded a snug little cell for political prisoners when he gets back. He's too powerful to be left alone." She said quietly. _

"Is that really so?" The voice sounded doubtful. The battlefield scene stopped suddenly, but Sakura barely noticed.

"_I don't like to talk about it much, since it's top secret. But it's true. Get your people to check the Konoha top secret files, if you can get them. They're in there." _

"It's true, mistress." A small voice, the same as Katin's, replied. "We found a file like that from a year ago."

"Well, then, it's a pity he came all the way, sick and delirious, to rescue you, isn't it?"

The illusion faded.

Sakura blinked her eyes, and standing two meters away from her was Sasuke. Pale, with hollow cheeks.

Dark circles under his eyes.

Unkempt dark hair fluttering with the wind.

He looked like a marble statue, carved to perfection. Thick, heavy lashes covered his deep, dark eyes.

"You're wrong." He replied. "I'm not here to save her."


	12. Chapter 12: Catching up

**Chapter 12: Catching Up**

**Long time no see! haha -.-lll Sorry for the delay, I've had a bit of a writer's block and life decided to get all busy on me. But I know those aren't great enough excuses. In the future, I promise to try to update more regularly! **

**Hope you guys like this chapter! :D**

**=======0o0o0o0o0========**

Sasuke smirked through weary eyes, and his eyes flitted across Sakura. "Save people? Do I look like freaking Superman to you?" His eyes grew solemn. "There's nothing I can do for the wrong things I've done in the past. But I can at least try to make it up."

"It's me you want to fight. Let her go."

Madame raised an eyebrow. "Straight to the point, I see. Are you _sure _that's what you want?"

Coal eyes darkened, a bead of sweat trickled down his pale neck. _This is it. Don't mess up. _

Silver hair blurred as the woman lunged suddenly.

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-

"What do you mean you can't smell the scent anymore? What about the fishy scent?" Naruto shouted.

Pakkun's droopy eyes looked bored. "Her scent was gone a while ago, but even the fishy scent is too hard to track at this rate. You'll have to look around this town and find out where she went yourself. I'd judge they were here about only a while ago, so hurry up."

He sneezed, and Ino handed him a piece of tissue paper.

"My work," The tiny dog continued, "is done here. And I think someone else is calling for me."

He sniffed, and added in a low voice, "My headache is killing me."

Before anyone could reply, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"_What?_ Hey, come back!" Naruto yelled at the empty space.

"It's no use. He's gone unless you can re-summon him again." Shikamaru added unhelpfully. "Come on, let's go explore this town. The sooner we start, the more chances we'll find something."

"So what's the plan?" Naruto asked eagerly as they stopped in the center of the town where two roads branched off.

"We have no idea why they're here so let's start with the basics. I'm thinking they couldn't have packed enough food to last them for so long and this would be the first town they encountered after all the forest voyages. Let's split up. Check restaurants and markets, Naruto."

"OK! Come on, Hinata-chan!" Naruto cried, and dragged the quiet girl towards the next street.

The poor girl nearly fainted from the contact.

Soon, they heard Naruto's scream of joy. "Oh my gosh, it's Ichiraku!"

Shikamaru sighed.

"So where we going to start?" Ino turned to ask Shikamaru.

He considered it for a while, fingering the packet of cigarettes in his pocket. "Pakkun didn't say anything about their scents in the forests, so they didn't make camp there. But they stayed here for quite a while for their scent to be still detected. That means…"

"They stayed in a hotel while they were here! Great, let's go!" Ino grinned and dragged them off to a small, yellow-bricked building.

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-

"Have you seen a pink-haired girl with a fishy smelling person eating here?" Naruto asked loudly to the boy behind the counter.

"Uh… I don't know." He said sceptically. "Now are you going to order or not?"

"Not unless you tell me an answer!"

The blond-haired boy glanced at the line of angry customers behind him. "Ask me this after rush hour?"

Naruto looked murderous. "Since when has 12 am become rush hour?" He screamed.

Hinata suddenly returned from her brief disappearance. "Um…Two bowls of s-shrimp ramen, please." She piped up quietly beside him as the boy behind the counter brightened.

"Yes, ma'am. Coming up right to your left. Please move to the waiting area." He looked relieved as Naruto grudgingly followed Hinata.

"But Hinata-chan, maybe Sakura-chan did come in here to eat! How could she refuse? It's Ichiraku!"

"N-nauro-kun…I…I have no doubt that Sakura-chan d-did come i-in here." She replied quietly, lavender eyes focused on the countertop. Turning away shyly, she directed a hand at the wall.

Jaw hitting the floor in the obvious message, Naruto darted toward the farthest wall, closest to the door, where there was a drawing of a pink cherry blossom and the face of a dark-haired, grouchy looking boy. In a heart in the center of the flower were the words "SH-SU forever" with an arrow through the heart.

-0o0o0o0oo0o000o0o0o0o0o0o0-

Sasuke quickly threw a smoke bomb before she could touch him, jumping back unto a tree branch.

A bolt of shimmering electricity snaked out, and he jumped, performing a seal in mid air. Twin snakes stretched and twisted themselves around Madame's torso, only to be cut to pieces by her long, silver hair.

Leaping back to another branch, Sasuke blocked Madame's lunge with his katana. The tip of Madame's hair caught his sleeve, and the clone vanished.

Suspiciously, the silver-haired woman glanced around. She grinned as she leapt forward, snaking strands of hair around a familiar chakra.

His hiding place lost, Sasuke swore and leapt backwards, just in time to avoid being cut in half by her hair.

The tree he was hiding behind was not so fortunate. It shattered violently, spraying rough bark and branches everywhere. It temporarily blinded his opponent.

Sasuke flipped back again. His eyes widened as a silver blur swept past. He set his jaw and carefully carried out a hand sign. A thick cloud of fire shot out of his hands to envelop the silver-haired woman.

A long snake shot out of one sleeve, latching unto a tree in the distance. In a second, he swung away, through the forest.

As his breathing grew more ragged, he slowed down and turned.

Three seconds later, Madame hopped down from the lowest tree branch. She smirked.

Sasuke's blood chilled. _Why does she look so smug?_

He glanced down, to see a thin strand of silver hair on his shoulder. Electricity ran through his body, casting away all coherent thoughts. All he felt was the searing, hot pain running through his body.

"You think I don't know who you are?" She asked lightly, when he was done spasming. "You, my dear, are not Sasuke Uchiha."

The dark-haired teenager shuddered uncontrollably, rolling on the forest floor. Grass stuck to his hair and clothes.

He glared through dark red eyes.

Soon, dark hair turned a dark red. Glasses appeared on the pale face.

Karin clenched fistfuls of grass as the jutsu wore off. She growled and swore.

"So you are the girl in Hebi. Just as I thought, the chakra expert." The young woman folded her arms. "Do you think that you are a hero, having lured me away from Sakura to your own death? Do you think they will escape this way?"

-0O0-

Shikamaru and Ino stepped into the shady-looking motel, approaching the front desk.

The old man behind the counter looked jubilant someone was finally coming in through the door and hurried to educate them on the newest discounts and rooms.

"No, thank you. We just want—"

"I see it now!" The old man with two tufts of white hair suddenly grinned, a winked at them both, holding out a key with a heart-shaped handle. "The LoveLove rooms, I have one left!"

"Uh." Shikamaru frowned, and stepped in front of Ino before she physically harmed the old man for the offensive suggestion. "No. Have you seen a—"

"Oh, we don't have to lie to him, Shika." Ino sauntered forward, an embarrassed smile on her face as she linked hands with the dark-haired boy. "Our families don't agree to our getting together, so we snuck out secretly, you see. I would appreciate some help from a kind man like you."

_Good thing I read a lot of romance novels! _Ino secretly shot up a fist in triumph._ Admire my beautiful brain!_

Shikamaru, turning a deep shade of red, tugged his collar uncomfortably with his free hand. "Er, sure."

"There's only one person who can convince our families, and that's a pink-haired girl...my long lost second cousin in law twice removed. She travels with a bunch of strange looking shinobi. We need to find her in order for our love to unite." She said sorrowfully.

She glanced up with tearfully blue eyes. "Will you help us?"

"Well…" He glanced at them dubiously, then suddenly brightened. "Of course I will! Young love always counter bumps in the road, but I will help you along with my powers of justice and awesomeness!"

Shikamaru nearly sweat-dropped. _Does Lee have a relative in this town? _

"That is," he added after a minute of thinking, "I would if I could. This village is very interconnected, and we can tell if there are foreigners right away. There has been a few in the past week, but the only one that seemed from far away was a white-haired young man. I overcharged him nearly twenty times for medical supplies and he didn't even really protest!" He giggled happily. "My wife is overjoyed at our new house."

"A white-haired young man?" Ino repeated over her big blue eyes.

"Yeah, he smelt fishy. Big sword. Pretends to be a tough guy but you can see he never even bought medical supplies in his life!" He chuckled, but suddenly glared at them. "Well, if you're not going to buy, then get out! Out!" He pushed them out the door and shut it in their faces.

Then, a window popped open. "Unless you wanted medical supplies?" He asked, the window framing his head with white tuffs sticking out on the sides like a comical caricature.

"Er… no." Shikamaru managed to utter.

"Then why are you still here?"

"You can let go of my hand now." He muttered under his breath, though he didn't expect her to do anything. Nor did he mind, really.

He was surprised when her hand suddenly fell loose and Ino ducked her head. "Heh. Sorry."

"Oh, look, another hotel! Why don't you wait outside, Shika, and I'll go in and try to get some more information." She blurted out rapidly, before walking quickly into the red-bricked hotel.

-=0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0=-

Sakura was still staring after Sasuke as a hand clapped over her mouth. Her mouth pinched in decisively, and she took a deep breath. _I have to go after him. He's so weak looking, he'll never defeat Madame! _

Sakura stood up slowly, shaking. Suddenly, something moved to the right of her vision. A familiar figure appeared, and to her eternal shame as a kunoichi, she screamed.

Suddenly, she felt a hand clamp down on her mouth.

"What's wrong with you?" A voice hissed in her ear.

"Mmph!" Green eyes widened. She could feel a cold hand on her collarbone, and she resisted the urge to throw the intruder on his back only because she recognized his voice.

_Had he somehow already defeated the woman? What the—_Her head strained to turn, and the hand on her mouth dropped. _Maybe it's a fake? _

Her captor was Sasuke to the rim, raising an eyebrow in annoyance.

"Yo, Sasuke, man! Why the hell are you running so fast for? Juugo-" Suigetsu's eyes widened at seeing Sakura. "Sakura!"

She paid no attention to him. It was clear now. "_Why_ was there an imposter of you?" Sakura demanded to Sasuke.

_That chakra. _Sasuke frowned at Sakura's confused and angry expression. If Sakura didn't know him as well as she did, she would've missed the sudden comprehension on his face.

"What?" She asked suspiciously.

He stared at her gravely.

"You're hiding something from me."

Sasuke shot her an annoyed look. "It's not your business."

Juugo, standing beside Suigetsu, watched the scene with mild interest.

Sakura's eyes widened. She stomped her foot angrily. "How is it not my...How can you say such a stupid thing? Especially if he's in danger right now!"

Annoyance graced his handsome features. "If you don't leave now, I'll gladly Chidori you somewhere."

"I bet he'd gladly do a lot more than that." Suigetsu smirked to Juugo.

Sasuke turned to glare at him. Sakura took this distraction to suddenly dart to the right, toward the forest where the decoy Sasuke left. The real one blocked her path.

"Explain." Sakura stated.

"We came here, Sakura, to search for Karin. But we found you instead." Juugo said slowly, confusion clearly written across his face.

"When I felt your chakra, there was something else." Sasuke said, frowning into the distance. "It doesn't take much to figure out there was someone here, who wanted something from you, and the imposter Sasuke saved you."

"How... did you find me?" Sakura tilted her head, frowning.

"I am particularly... fond of birds." Juugo replied quietly, and Sakura directed her surprise at him. "And they, in return, are surprisingly fond of me also."

Sakura turned to look at Suigetsu, who had turned an unhealthy pale colour. Paler than usual.

"Searching for Karin..." Her eyes widened.

Suddenly, her breath choked her.

Sasuke's expression remained so unemotional Sakura wanted to hurt him. Her head and limbs felt weak, rubbery, and she almost sat down on the ground. Sakura remembered back to the strange words, and the strange looks the fake Sasuke gave her. Now, she understood.

"Only Karin can imitate my chakra so well." Sasuke said. He squinted into the forest toward the path Karin had taken.

"What the hell are you waiting for, emo prince?" Suigetsu drawled. "Let's go kick the other person's ass before redhead dies on us!"

"Let's go, Juugo! We'll give the couple a little time to talk it out." He winked at them, and darted off before Sakura or Sasuke could hit him.

Juugo spared them one last glance, before following Suigetsu into the forest.

Sasuke glanced back at Sakura. Coldly. "You don't deserve what she's done for you."

Sakura smiled tightly. "You're not the only one who thinks that."

"Listen." Sasuke said slowly, wondering about why he wanted her to know this. "This woman, she came here for a specific purpose. She had a remarkable network of information set up, all without us noticing. Logically, it's simpler to kill off the rest of the team and the person she wants. But she didn't."

He frowned, "The only explanation is that _you _are her goal."

Sakura stiffened, and a wisp of wind swung a lock of hair over her eyes.

"Me?"

The realization hit her, and she noticed the implications of Sasuke's words. His words warned her of the danger she severely underestimated. No matter where she went now, she would be followed.

But what… what did they want?

Suddenly, a sharp, numbing pain flooded out from her back, and she felt something spreading rapidly across her back. Her eyes widened as the feeling reached to her arms, then her head. She tried to speak, but choked instead.

A numbing pain seared across her back, and she gasped.

She didn't see the green smoke flooding out of the small senben wound on her back. She didn't see the green cloud enveloping her body.

All she felt was a strange soaring feeling... and light.

Sasuke saw her collapse, and a faint green glow emitted from her body. He hesitated, in the direction of his teammates and Sakura, writhing in pain on the ground.

Suddenly, she went still.

Instinct taught him to check her life signs, but the minute he touched her skin, he felt the sensation too.

The last thing Sasuke felt was a strange soaring feeling… and light.

-popopopopopopop-

"Of course, I don't understand why you're doing this. But your reasons, I have no interest in."

Madame bent down to gingerly remove a piece of grass from the girl's red hair. "You're lucky I have my own principles. I don't kill the helpless weak." She laughed. "But before I go, let me tell you that your sacrifice has been for nothing. The senben poison worked out right in the end. Sakura is under my control."

Silver eyes glittered. She smiled. Viciously.

Red eyes tightened. "What do you mean, under your control?"

Gracefully, she shrugged. "I think I have said enough. I mean, she is currently on her way to my household."

"That's... impossible." Karin struggled to stand. "You're lying."

"I won't let you leave." Eyes behind the dark-framed glasses twinkled in anger. "I won't let you hurt Sasuke's..." She paused. "What the hell, just prepare to die, woman!"

She charged, swinging a kunai expertly. Silver eyes twinkled and the lady smiled mischieviously.

"Your death isn't very high on my list right now." She nimbly dodged the kunai, and Karin's foot. "I think I will return for you when I am ready, my dear little girl."

The last thing Karin thought was, _Is that freaking _lightning _coming out of her hair again? _

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-

Shikamaru yawned, sitting down at a table in a dumplings restaurant. Tiredly, he rubbed his temples, thinking about the strange chase.

Somehow, his mind strayed to Ino.

For a long while, he had suspected she like him, but since she flirted with every boy that caught her eye, he wasn't really feeling special. But to blush? He didn't even know she was capable of the action.

As a village strategist, he would be one of the high priorities on any bingo list of countries at war with Konoha. It was best that he stayed single all his life, with no emotional connections to hinder his career or for the enemy to take advantage of.

_Enemy. _

His eyes narrowed, and he sighed as his mind focused on the matter. He was almost positive Sasuke was involved. It would make sense to kidnap the little boy to bait the Akatsuki, and take Sakura because she'd seen him and might tell everyone else, eventually leaking the information to the criminal organisation. She would also be useful in case any Konoha ninja tried to follow them, acting as a hostage. But there was something not right about this entire case. All this made no sense.

Unless. His eyebrows wrinkled. Unless there was another unknown factor in this. Another set of people involved.

"Hey, pineapple head, guess what I found?" Ino's gloating voice interrupted his thoughts.

He resisted the urge to inform her that his head was not shaped like a pineapple. It was round.

Sighing, he waited patiently for her to continue.

"Come on. Take a guess. Impress me, you lazy bum."

Yawning, he sat up scratching his head. "You've found their hotel."

"That's not a statement, not a guess!" Ino whined. "Whatever. Now, let's go find Naruto and Hinata!"

The four met at the intersection, each team with their own news to tell.

-0O0-

Checking the coast was clear, Suigetsu threw down his pack. "Karin!"

Juugo followed him into the clearing. "It appears she was gone very recently. Is she hurt?"

"Who cares?" Suigetsu shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "I'm kidding, big guy, don't get so serious! Nothing appears wrong with her, except a few scratched and bruises and grass all over her hair. Very Christmasy."

"That is good to know." A sudden frown creased Juugo's features. "But where is Sasuke?"

Suigetsu stopped, and they exchanged a glance.

Worry spread across their thoughts.

"Nah, he's probably getting it on with cherry blossom." He shrugged. "Let's bring redhead here back to the hotel, then we can work things out from there."

"I believe it would be better to check back with Sasuke-kun." Juugo said hesitantly.

"Why bother, big guy? Think about it," Suigetsu continued, "Is anyone suspicious with a lot of chakra anywhere near the forest?"

"No." Juugo checked that already before they stepped into the clearing.

"OK. Sasuke's a big tough guy, and Sakura's scary enough as she is. They'll be fine. Now," He gestured slyly to the unconscious Karin, "This is the witch who keeps all our cash. What say you about demolishing Ichiraku afterwards, eh?"

Juugo almost achieved a faint look of disapproval.

Suigetsu sighed. "Then let's just get Karin back to the hotel."

======0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0======

"SU is Sasuke, right?" Naruto asked eagerly, pointing at the wall.

"No, it stands for Shiny Unicorn." Ino replied sarcastically.

They ignored the strange glances from the people around them eating ramen, staring at the four teenagers staring intently at the graffiti on the wall.

"The hotel said something about a handsome dark-haired youth, with the fishy guy and a red-haired girl and a tall, large man. Who else can they be?" Ino repeated, excitement trembling her voice.

"But we don't know if they left already." Naruto said dejectedly. "That's a problem."

"And you can get the answer at the hotel!" Ino insisted. "They might still be there!"

"But you just told me the woman said she hasn't seen them for two days." Shikamaru said as he turned to Naruto and Hinata. "Have you guys found sources saying—hey!"

Ino dragged him toward the hotel. "They. Might. Still. Be. There." She hissed, daring him to correct her.

He sighed, throwing a fateful glance up into the sky. "I'm supposed to be the leader here."

"Shut up." An exasperated Shikamaru threw back a glance at Naruto and Hinata, who stared after them.

-0O0-

"So what now?" Naruto asked. "We're outside the hotel, but what're we going to do to get inside their rented room?"

Ino grinned cheekily. "Admire my genius, guys." She leaned in, and told them of the plan.

-0O0-

_It's lucky I know Teme really well, and what he'd do in this situation._ Naruto thought smugly, brushing back his dark locks. _Just watch my awesome performance, guys. _

"Hey, beautiful." He sauntered up to the lady in the reception desk, trying to lean his elbows on the desk but missed. "I'm back."

"M-may I h-help you?" The blushing woman stuttered, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Yes, you lovely being." He grinned wide. "A situation has recently came up, and I..."

He saw Ino, transformed as Karin, slap a hand on her face and dragged it down. _Too much. _She mouthed at him.

Naruto frowned. _But that's exactly how Sasuke... _

"Yes?..." The receptionist asked breathlessly, blushing like mad.

_Oh, all right. Maybe a bit colder. What would Sasuke say?_ Naruto wondered, then mentally grinned.

The pale, dark-haired ninja crossed his arms in what he assumed to be a cool posture, and glared at the receptionist. "As I was saying, yes, you stupid weakling. I lost my room keys while taking a piss. Now give me another copy, or I'll Chidori your ass all the way to—ow!"

Shikamaru, transformed as Suigetsu, stepped up beside Naruto and stomped on his foot. "Sorry. What he means is, ah, we were locked out of our rooms after coming back from a meal, so as troublesome as this is, would you be able to give us another copy of the room keys. Please?"

The woman smiled, the confused look vanishing from her face. "Of course. What's the room number? And may I also have your identification and-"

"That's enough!" Naruto cut in disapprovingly. "Do you really need to ask, you silly, annoying human?"

He winced at the result. _Sorry, but this is all for Sakura-chan._

The poor receptionist looked startled, and blushed. She fumbled with the records for a few seconds, and abruptly handed them the key.

"I'm s-sorry... P-p-p-please have a nice day..." She stuttered miserably, and fixed her gaze on her desktop.

Suigetsu yawned as he took the key. "Hey, thanks." He mumbled.

The receptionist nodded faintly. She didn't noticed Ino slapping Naruto on the head, or that Juugo appeared a great deal shorter than usual, and looked a great deal more timid than usual too.

**======0o0o0o0o0======**

**Thanks for reading! **


	13. Chapter 13: Castles and Cells

**Chapter 13: Castle and cells **

**AN: Hhaha, someone said they were just getting used to the Karin-bashing? LOL yeah, mee too, buddy, me too. But then I thought, everyone must have a sorta good side, right? And the plot called for something like that to move it along, so that's why Karin was being all nice and stuff. Was it too cheesy? I'm sorry, but I hope you brought enough crackers to enjoy it. :P (OK that WAS cheesy but hey, it's like 2 am, so I'm only like 1/3 functioning right now). **

**Long overdue disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. This goes for any previous/future chapters.**

**=0o0o0o0o0o0o0=**

"Do you think Karin got heavier since the last time we carried her?" Suigetsu asked dubiously, slinging the redhead down on the bed. He took a deep breath. "That was not easy coming up all those stairs."

"Suigetsu, be careful." Juugo warned, after seeing Karin's head dangerously close to hitting the ground. "She may still be injured."

"Yeah, yeah." Suigetsu walked over the window and glanced out. "That was weird, huh, there was a crowd of girls crowding in the great hall. Well, they're mostly gone now." He chuckled. "The last time I saw that was when Sasuke first walked into the hotel."

"Perhaps now we should check up on Sasuke. His whereabouts remains unclear." Juugo said from beside the bed, gazing thoughtfully at the wall. He turned and looked puzzled. "What are you doing, Suigetsu?"

The pale nin scratched his head, bent over Karin. "Now where else would she keep the money? Come on, now. You think she left it at the healer's lodge?"

"I'm not sure," Juugo said distractedly, "I believe I should go check on Sasuke and Sakura." Juugo frowned. "If you're not going to accompany me, then I will leave now."

Suigetsu paused and looked up, almost bored. "We wouldn't want Sasuke to work some crazy transformation crap right after Sakura spent so much time healing him, neh? I'd better go with you." He offered graciously.

Juugo smiled. "Thank you, Suigetsu."

"That is, after I go see if she left the money in her room. Give me a sec."

=======0o0o0o0o0o0o0=========

"Why are you all looking at me?" Shikamaru said and frowned.

"Shouldn't group leaders…generally give some orders before battles?" Naruto commented, scratching his head. "So… what do we do now that we know they're inside?"

"What do you want me to say?" The lazy genius sighed. "This was all Ino's idea."

"How was I supposed to know?" Ino snapped back, glaring at the spots of wet mud that gave away Team Hebi's position. "Who would come back to the hotel room in the afternoon? Now we can't use the keys, unless we want a Chidori in the face by Sasuke."

"Technically, the Chidori can't be—" Shikamaru started, then sighed. "Ino, if _Sasuke _was in there, my guess is he probably would've killed us already."

Hinata had an idea. "W-we c-c-could ambush them through t-the windows outside?"

"Yeah!" Naruto chimed in. "That's a great idea!"

Hinata smiled, staring at the ground.

"All right. We'll need to split up, then." Shikamaru nodded.

=======0o0o0o0o0o0=======

Suigetsu heard a crash, and leapt up, grabbing his large sword off the floor. Cautiously, he held it out in front of him, walking toward the sound of the noise.

He saw a blond ninja and a dark-haired girl.

"What the—" He started.

Hinata took one look at his shirtless body and fainted.

"Where did you keep Sakura-chan?-" Naruto shouted, and he heard the thump. "-Oh my gosh, Hinata!" He glared at Suigetsu. "What jutsu did you use?"

"Why are you looking for cherry bl-Why did she just faint?-" Suigetsu was asking, then shrugged. "Nah, I'll figure that out after I kill you."

"I'll make you pay for what you did to Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted, as ten clones appeared.

"I didn't do anything!" Suigetsu growled back, and charged, wielding his sword.

Then, the front door blasted open, and Suigetsu felt his body freeze. He traced a dark shadow back to a dark-haired teenager. Shikamaru stared at him sternly.

"Don't even ask." He said dryly, sighing. "This is all so troublesome."

He turned. "Ino, Naruto, I'll hold him here. Go search the other rooms."

Suigetsu grinned. "You think this is enough to hold me, pineapple head?" He suddenly grinned, and melted into a puddle, through the floor. Shikamaru crouched, in time to dodge the large sword.

"You are not getting near any other member of Hebi but me." Suigetsu appeared before Ino as she opened was about to open the door to Karin's room. "Sorry, but we like our privacy here."

Ino dodged the sword, and her row of kunais went through him, into the wall behind him. Her eyes widened, and Suigetsu used that moment to swing her legs from underneath her.

Ino growled as she leapt up from the floor, and Suigetsu's chest received another slash.

"What the _hell_ are you?" Ino snapped as she swung back a fist, breaking a vase on a cabinet. Just then, she felt coldness around her throat, and realized a tendril of water was curling around her neck.

"Someone too lazy to kill you." She heard faintly, before her world went black.

"Rasengan!" Suigetsu turned to Naruto's clone, kicking two into the wall. He was about to counter-attack when he heard a blood-curdling howl.

"Crap." He froze. "Karin!" He suddenly shouted, turning toward the room. He was too late in dodging the blue ball of energy from one of the clones.

Naruto panted as he watched the hole in Suigetsu widen. The pale water nin turned toward him, surprise in his face.

Slowly, the hole diminished in size. Soon, it closed up, but a dark mark stayed on Suigetsu's body.

"Naruto, get away from there!" Shikamaru suddenly shouted.

Suigetsu breathed heavily. He turned to Naruto. At that moment, a dark figure burst through the door, howling madly.

The water-nin hesitated, then decided. "Why the _hell _am I so nice today?" Suigetsu wondered aloud, before disappearing.

"Ino!" Shikamaru was trying to wake Ino, but the blonde stayed unconscious. "Naruto, move!"

Black marks all over his body, the monster tried to smash the blond boy, who darted away with lightning speed and leapt back. "I can take him." Naruto growled, red aura starting to fill the air.

He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "No." Shikamaru said firmly. "Get Hinata and Ino to safety. I'll take him."

"Shik—"

"_Do it._ Don't start a large fight. Remember, this is a hotel."

Juugo roared, vowing to kill the dark-haired man standing in front of him. Suddenly, he was surprised to find his limbs paralysed. Thrashing, he tried to free himself from the jutsu.

Sweat formed on Shikamaru's head. _Hold on, just a bit longer. _"Naruto, hurry up!" He shouted.

The blond boy, having dragged Hinata to the door, was also trying to move Ino's unconscious body. "This isn't really what I'm used to doing in a battle, Shikamaru!" He shouted back. "I'm usually more familiar with the butt-kicking part!"

"You can't hold me!" Juugo shouted, freeing one arm. "Now YOU will DIE!" His hand smashed into the wall, making a large dent where he touched it.

"Ohh…" Ino moaned, opening her eyes. "My head hurts." Feeling the rough wood floor underneath her legs, Ino figured out why her head hurt.

Naruto was dragging her down a flight of staris, the wood hitting her head with every step.

"What the _hell _do you think you're doing, Naruto?" She yelled, leaping up. "Do you want to _die_, treating me like this?"

"You're alive, Ino! We thought the water dude knocked you out! Now, the sooner we get Hinata somewhere safe, the—SHIKAMARU'S GONNA DIE!"

"Then where are _you _going?" Ino screamed back.

"I don't know! I can't just _give _Hinata-chan away to someone to take care of!"

"No, I guess not. You get Hinata away from here, I'll go back and take care of… whatever's happening." Ino turned and ran up the stairs.

"Stupid pineapple head, what does he think he's _doing_, sending all of his backup away?" She hissed underneath her breath as she sprinted.

=0o0o0o0=

"_Finally._ You took your sweet time." Suigetsu remarked, in a dark alley three blocks away from the hotel.

Karin blinked groggily, mindlessly checking the mobility in her limbs. "Why does my head feel so bruised?" She murmured.

At this, Suigetsu _tried_ to look a little bit sorry.

"I have a bad feeling." Karin said, sitting up suddenly. "Is Juugo OK?"

The pale man beside her coughed. "Uh, nothing's going to be questioned if we clean up the bodies after."

An eyebrow twitched on Karin's face.

=0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0=

Inaki Amakaye was having a bad day. His girlfriend broke up with him this morning, telling him he always smelt like onions. Then, his mother tried immediately to match him up with an old, wrinkled wife with loads of money.

Like, come on, she was three times his age! _And, _two of her children's nieces were older than him.

_Face it, mother, it isn't going to work out. _He vented mentally, fuming down the streets. He decided to make a long awaited trip to the bar, and meet with a few buddies to drown out his sorrows.

Suddenly, he felt something drop from above, and was amazed to see a teenager with a large spiky ponytail jump out of a window.

Following him, almost as if being tagged along, another man fell from the sky. He was glowing with a murderous energy which terrified Inaki more than the thought of his angry mother. The second teenager thrashed and growled, but seemed to be bound tightly by some invisible force.

He watched the murderous one screaming and being dragged unwillingly by the spiky haired teenager, who managed to nod apolegetically to a couple of ladies whose groceries got thrown away in shock.

Then, they dashed into the forest.

Inaki blinked.

What _were_ they? Wait, he knew the answer to that: they were ninjas. But in this quiet little town, only the village healer had any sort of magic power _close _to anything like that.

He sighed, and trudged off toward the bar once more.

_Maybe they were just a hallucination? _He started to wonder as everything returned to normal, and his mind refocused on his own problems.

=0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0=

Ino burst through the door, to see an empty, trashed room. Broken debris littered across the floor, door were ripped out of their hinges, and the wooden floor was torn into chunks. She hurried to the windowsill, glancing down at the line of destruction into the surronding forest.

Ino cursed loudly.

Following their tracks, she ignored the awed townspeople (_-another one from that hotel?-) _and charged into the forest.

=0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0=

Sasuke groaned and opened his eyes. _What happened? Think... _His vision swam with glittery stars. As his sight began to reclear, he heard a distant, soft breathing.

Cautiously, Sasuke slowly sat up.

He wasn't surprised to hear soft breathing on the other side of the wall, and glimpsed a dull pink in the corner.

A blinding pain shot up his right arm as he clenched his hand. Calmly, Sasuke inspected his arm, and found that it was bloody and torn.

He frowned. He remembered Sakura's body glowing, and grabbing unto her arm as she began to disappear. _There must've been a very strong summoning jutsu somewhere. It's probably also designed to prevent others from tracking down the jutsu. _Even now, he was not sure of the motive behind this action. He retorted dryly that he never knew what he was doing around this girl.

Something, a memory of some sort, flitted across his mind. But he could not pinpoint it through the massive hazy cloud in his mind.

_You, like an useless idiot, followed her and ruined your hand. You can't even do jutsus anymore! _He gritted his teeth, as a wave of self hatred flood over him. Blindly, he smashed his injured hand into the wall. _How are you going to escape and kill Itachi in this condition?_

The pain was dazzling, but as it slowly died down, his head cleared with it. Breathing raggedly, he shoved dark hair out of his face.

The small voice muttered something in the dark.

Silently, he edged closer to the small figure, who was shivering slightly in the dim light.

"Sasuke…" The voice said so softly he barely heard her.

There was something almost smug which arose in him when he heard his name. All these years, she had not changed.

He felt again, something... something he was perhaps secretly afraid of, as he stared at her hair, the way her face appeared so peaceful. Sasuke's eyes followed the soft pink strands, delicate chin, and porcelain skin down to her vulnerable neck.

He suddenly let out a smirk, shaking his head. During his time in Sound, he had met many more attractive and willing women, so it made no sense that he was attracted to this fragile, silly girl.

They were of two different roads. She has wasted her time waiting for him. He knew he didn't deserve what she had done, and he had no intention of proving himself worthy of it.

To do that would mean that he was a heartless bastard who still wanted to lead her on about some impossible dream.

The feeling, he long ago concluded, is nothing more than a fickle, irrational distraction. It was just caused by the environment, of being near the vulnerable being. And, as _sensei_ Orochimaru_—_he sneered at the title—had said, those emotions are always the most dangerous ones. Firmly, he shoved it aside.

He decided confidently that he did not care about the girl next to him. Sasuke had no desire to arise any emotions. Especially not the ones he experienced in his childhood. Back when he was weak and useless.

_But what did you gain throughout these years? Aren't you still stuck in the same cell as Sakura Haruno? _A snickering voice retorted.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. _I will find a way to get out of here. Haruno can rot here, and I will prove that I'm superior. _

He glared toward the girl dozing fitfully, wanting to switch his heart with one of lead. Wouldn't that make life so much easier?

Maybe one day, he would even have the guts to kill her.

He took a deep breath. _Escaping. That's your priority. _In the darkness, he took a firm step forward. The cell turned out to be fifteen by ten steps. Next, he ran a hand across the walls, and was surprised to find it completely dry. The conditions were better than any prisons he had seen in Sound. And he had seen a great number of prisons in Sound.

Unconsciously, his mind turned to the dark, vicious Sound prisons filled with death and stench. Every day, women, children, men whom Orochimaru had aimlessly _chosen_, were condemned to terrible treatment. Sometimes, it was in the name of scientific research. Sometimes in the name of justice.

As his apprentice, Sasuke had watched. Passively. Just as he had done the past few weeks. To him, it was better to feel nothing and pretend than to face reality. To him, nothing was real but his goals.

It was as everyone suspected. His experiences had made Sasuke Uchiha a cold, calculating monster. That's exactly what Sasuke wanted everyone to believe, and wanted desperately to be.

Glancing up, he saw the only source of light came from small holes punched into the metal door.

He examined the cell throughly again, but found no obvious fault. Everything about the cell was planned out to be perfect. Weariness drenching his body, Sasuke slumped down against the wall.

He allowed his bad arm to rest on the straw beside him. He dangled the other arm across his knee, biting the knuckle in thought.

He remembered to Karin's note, after he woke up from the fever.

It told him that she had gone to the hotel to find Sakura, only to find her gone and a note left on the table. It explained that Katin was taken away.

_..._

_There's something only I can do, at the moment. Maybe I mean only I'm_ willing _to do it. Hey, I never said I wanted to be a hero, I just don't want anyone to get hurt. _

_In the really unlikely case that I won't get back, but probably not cause I'm totally awesome, I want you, my dearest Sasuke-whoochi-koochi-coco-buns to know of the sacrifice that pink-haired girl did for you. _

_I'm not sure if I really wanna tell you, but hey, I guess only I_ _can_. _I've only heard of the jutsu, but you'll know. It's the one that transfers all the wounds from the patient unto the healer. It robs them 5 years of their life…_

Sasuke had then woken up Suigetsu and Juugo, who were in two other rooms for the night, and went after Karin.

_And this brought me here. _He almost laughed at the absurdity. Dark tar eyes glittered. He wanted to smash the walls and slit the throat of the silver haired woman. He hated feeling tied down, unable to progress in some way.

He hated others having absolute control over him.

_I will escape. _He narrowed his eyes. _At any costs. _

-0o0o0o0o0o0-

When he woke, there were six trays of food by the door. He noted the excellent quality after two bites, but the taste was ruined by his surroudings. For the rest of his waking hours, Sasuke contemplated a plan to escape the building which he knew barely anything of.

There wasn't enough light inside, and he couldn't see anything outside of the cell either. In fact, even the meals came from a mysterious origin. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served at once, in the morning, before he woke up. Dinner would still be warm ten hours later, ready to be consumed as if just cooked.

The entire mechanism of the cell puzzled him, and Sakura's continuous slumber indirectly irritated his mood too.

But soon, she woke too. He knew because the sound of her teeth chattering in the dark.

He stayed perfectly still.

Sasuke listened as she calmed her breathing and chattering teeth, and stumbled up. Slowly, he watched her use her feet and hands to inspect and count the spaces in the cell.

At one end, she suddenly collapsed. He saw her dim figure through the dark cell, and felt her struggle to get up.

As her breathing grew heavier, Sasuke slowly stood up from his sitting position.

"Come closer and I'll kick you through the wall." She warned in a low voice, as she saw the looming figure in the cell. A faint green glow illuminated her determined glare.

"Hn."

"_Sasuke_." She looked surprised. The green light extinguished, and she slumped forward slightly. "How did _you_ get here?" He noted her relief with overwhelming dryness.

"You have a wound on your back." He knew from the way she fell.

He saw her tilt her head cautiously, the way her green eyes glittered with unspoken pain. He could tell there were suspicions in her mind about why he was here.

"Let me see."

He could tell she was hesitant about exposing her wound to him. _Didn't she say she trusted me? I wonder how long her words last. _

He waited, wanting to test her trust in him. Trust was an interesting power. It made them useful for manipulation. He didn't have a plan yet, but he was confident that he would. And when he did, all the trust she had in him would come in handy.

Reluctantly, Sakura decided, just as Sasuke thought she would. Biting her lip, she slowly turned toward the wall, letting him see the torn clothing on her back.

"I take it that you can see it." She said quietly, and sighed. "Another use of the almighty Sharigan."

Sasuke realized his Sharigan must permit him to see better in this cell, and that Sakura was likely completely blind in the cell. He was surprised and quite annoyed at how quickly she grasped the concept.

"So you still have chakra?" He asked dryly.

Sakura paused, and nodded. "I think so. Though I don't see how useful it will be in a cell obviously protected any jutsus that would get us out of here."

"Ah." Sasuke replied. "Your back is a bloody mess. There is a… senben wound." He paused.

He remembered back to Karin's note, and frowned.

"I'll heal it later." Sakura sighed, considering the possibilities. "When I don't feel like they're coming to kill me at any second."

Sasuke didn't answer.

A long silence stretched across between them. Sakura felt the cold distance Sasuke spaced himself, and could almost touch the icy barriers of his mind.

A dim suspicion she had long harboured finally crawled into the light, and she bitterly grasped the concept.

Sakura smiled.

"You can let up the act now, Sasuke. You never did accept me, did you? Even when the others accepted me into Hebi, you just pretended to."

He started, turning his dark coal eyes unto her pale face. Determinedly, Sakura tried to locate him in the darkness.

"Which brings up an interesting question." She continued. "Why did you kidnap me and not kill me in the first place?"

He considered and replied sullenly, "I don't know."

"Then allow me to provide a theory." She said quietly. "I was the first familiar person you saw in two years. In the forest, there. It reminded you of home, of where you didn't have to watch your back all the time." She took a deep breath. "I knew what you did, Sasuke."

His left hand fisted. _You know nothing about me. _

"You protected me in the ambush. And after that, so…thank you." She trailed off, unable to think of anything else to say about the subject.

"Ah."

"So you were ambushed."

"Suigetsu told you this?"

Sakura gave a faint laugh. "He didn't have to say much. I pieced a lot together from your bloody arm, and how you've had to carry me around like a sack of potatoes." She paused again.

"Do you know by whom?"

He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her the information. He didn't answer.

Sakura sat through the awkward, stifling silence. It demonstrated in full her theory of his distrust in her.

"Being secretive is good. I suppose you needed it to survive." She tried to say brightly. "I'm sure you have your reasons."

_She talks like she knew what I've been though. _Sasuke gritted his teeth. Finally, his anger snapped.

"You don't know anything." Sasuke snarled. "Do you think my life has been easy? Ever since I approached Orochimaru, the intense training everyday nearly killed me. More times than you or Naruto or anyone in Konoha can ever count or endure!"

"My life…ever since I was little, was cursed. Everything about me is cursed." Sasuke continued woodenly. "Not hating me is your mistake, _Sakura Haruno_."

Sakura was about to answer, when a fit of sudden coughing blocked her airway. She felt liquid come out of her mouth. Her back ached painfully, and it felt like the winter wind was biting unto her bare skin. When the pain subsided, she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, and glared in his direction.

Sasuke watched her pitiful actions. Even in the dark, he could still see the green glimmer of her eyes, the pink locks of her hair.

She let out a small laugh, shaking her head exasperatedly. "This is just _great_. I feel like everytime we're alone together, you're like a broken record playing." She shook her head again. "I get it, you think I'm weak and pathetic and don't understand you. OK. Message received." She coughed again.

"But _I_ have something you haven't this time. The access to chakra."

Sasuke turned carefully in her direction, and Sakura could see faintly a pair of dark red eyes in the dim light.

"Even if I can't see much, Sasuke, I can tell from your voice that something's not right. And by the door here, where there's enough light to see outlines, I see the eating utensils on the finished plates are on the wrong side. Could it be that the mighty Uchiha has a wounded _right_ arm?" She mimicked a shocked gasp.

"So I'm paralysed by my back and you can't do jutsus with your hand. Why did they even bother with a door in this cell?" She said sarcastically.

She sensed his tensed silence, and decided to push a bit further to get across her point. After all, she needed him to believe that he needed her help.

And convincing an Uchiha that was not going to be easy.

"Do you know how vulnerable you are right now? Guess what, Sasuke, you're just as vulnerable as me!"

Sakura felt his murderous intentions, but didn't move.

"And guess what, this cell is perfect for retaining even the prisoners who _can _fight. You'll never find a way out."

The next second, she heard his voice close to her face.

"Say that again and you will wish that your back is the only thing that hurts." He hissed into her ear. "What did you think I've practiced all these years? I could kill you in the most painful way possible, even without chakra and my right arm."

The pink-haired girl glanced down at his hand on her neck. "Then you will definitely never get out of here."

"Are you content to sit here forever, giving others absolute control over your every movement?" She glanced up at him, ignoring the way her throat was tightening uncomfortably. "Back in the forest, you said they wanted something from me. I have a slight idea. You must have some ideas too."

"There's only one way we can escape." She said. "We need to work together."

Sasuke froze, and released his hold on Sakura, leaning back as she slid down further against the wall.

Wordlessly, he walked back to his corner of the room.

Lying down, he could not sleep. He considered, for the first time in his young life, the possibility of truly forging a bond in a short amount of time. Because he realized that he had severely underestimated Sakura. Her trust in him may no longer be there.

Slowly, he sat up and stared at the figure curled up against the opposite wall.

Her perfect features, her contrasting soft skin, and intelligent green eyes made her an formidable figure, even in the dark. As an ally, he grudgingly admitted she would useful. Her ability to heal would also be useful.

"I know how much you want to escape. Believe me, I understand." Her voice replied through the darkness. "You think I'm not scared what will happen to me?"

The silence stretched out between them again, and he bit his hand knuckles in thought.

"Fine." He said grudgingly. "How do you want to seal the bond?"

"What is this, a business transaction?" Sakura snapped back. "_Trust _is going to seal the freaking bond." Her green eyes hardened. "But I swear, Sasuke Uchiha, if you plan to backstab me, I will make you pay. Even if it kills me."

He was almost relieved to feel the emotions behind her voice. They bound her to him, mentally and physically. Perhaps to have her as an ally was the most foolproof alliance he ever made.

"Hn."

They shook hands. Solemnly.

Sakura smiled faintly. A month ago, she would've never believed it if someone told her of her situation now.

How did she even get here anyway? Her life in the Fire Country seemed so far away…

_The others, in Konoha... They were right. They were right to say that he changed. That he'll never come back. There is no way he is still the Sasuke I knew after years of being with Orochimaru and Hebi. _

She bit her lip. _Ever since I saw him in the forest, I knew my presence irritated him. But all this time, I believed... I believed... I believed I still had a chance to get to know him. To get him to like me, so I could still help him, save him, cure him. _

_I can't-do anything, but watch him... I can help him escape. _

It was as she had heard back in her childhood years, when you love someone, it changes you in a way that you can never change back.

It was then that Sakura realized the feelings she tried to get rid of all these years would never disappear. They were now so deeply embedded in herself that there was no way she could tear out the root.

She would do everything in her power to help him escape. Even risking her own life.

_As long as he doesn't know... that emotionally challenged Uchiha, _she thought almost smugly, _I'll keep on pretending. _

**_=0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0=_**

**Hellloooo, reader! You've just come to the end of the 13th installment in this series! Congrats! Honestly, I'm not so sure where I'm going with this. Does this seem like a direction you want the Sasusaku-ness to go in? Or no? Too cheeeeesy? :P **

**The future chapters can be (sort of) altered if enough ppl tell me what they want. You can say stuff like that, you know, it doesn't have to be all encouragements. Although I certainly enjoy those too. A lot. ^^**

**And yes, that WAS a (sort of) encouragement to make you review. But not really. Only do it if you want to say something to me, of course. And yes, did I forget to mention how I read every single one of them? Advertising reviewing would make me feel despicable, because 162 is already so much more than I anticipated! Yay!**

**So thanks for reading, and as of now, my current direction = Sasusaku progression from level 0. In a castle. Far away. In a cell. Yay.**


	14. Chapter 14: Speculations

**Chapter 14: Speculations and Revelations**

**A/N: It's been so long, GIANORMOUS thank you to anyone who is still interested in the continuation of this story. Please enjoy! Disclaimer, etc as per usual. ^=^ **

(-)

(-)

"Madame?" Sakura asked, wide-eyed. "I don't understand, why would she be interested in me? I don't understand what she's planning."

Sasuke sat down, and said, "It's obvious she planned it to be secret. There's a certain order she wanted events to be executed." He said, and frowned. "You said, clones?"

At this, a flash of memory stirred. In the darkness, Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"There's a forbidden scroll," He said softly, "for making multiple clones from chakra sources." He paused, remembering the gruesome images and detailed steps. He gritted his teeth at the returned memory of the stench of blood, sweat and fear at the thought of Orochimaru's underground dungeon.

"There's actually a scroll likelike that?" Sakura asked, surprised. "Real ones? Not shadow clones?"

"You need someone as the original copy. The original copy's abilities would be present in the clones, but the original copy would die from excruciating pain."

Sakura's breath caught in her throat. "_If there were clones of Katin, then that means—_"

He ignored her. "—There are too many ways to fail the process. You'd still get a result, but it's unlikely it's the one you want. Because of this, not even Kabuto tried it before."

Sakura let out a long breath. "That means I've never met the real Katin. And it means the real one died already, excruciatingly. But that doesn't make sense, since her tone made her sound like she really cared about him." She turned in Sasuke's direction. "Can the process be repeated with clones? Like, could _clones _be the original copies instead of real people? Could their abilities then be pass unto other clones?"

Sasuke paused. "Theoretically." He said slowly. "Then having more than one original copies would be even better. Their abilities would fuse within the clones, and the results would be powerful."

"They could… eventually… make an identical army. Every one would have some form of bloodline limits."

"The ideal army to overpower all the countries' strengths added together." Sakura said softly.

"But that doesn't really make sense." She frowned. "Why _me_? Wouldn't it be better to just kidnap all the ones with blood limits? She should be chasing after people like you, Naruto, Neji, that sort of thing?"

At that point, a sharp stab of pain shot up her back. Sakura bit her lip, almost crying out in pain. The senben wound, even if it was just a small wound, felt excruciating against the texture of the cell wall through the large hole in her shirt.

She winced and a though flashed cynically through her mind. _How am I supposed to escape in this condition? _

"Chakra." Sasuke said quietly. "The process is very dependent on chakra. To obtain their stolen abilities, the new clones must activate them using chakra. Sometimes, even at this stage, they fail and as a result, die.

"You're known for being a medic, and a fighter who uses chakra as weapon. You may not be the only one she would consider kidnapping, but you would be obvious."

"Chakra control?" She repeated in disbelief. "_Me, _obvious? _Why_?"

"You name has spread farther than you think." He answered vaguely.

"…What are you talking about?"

He sighed._ Why is this girl surprised? _ "Think about what you've been doing on missions."

"Stuff. Helping villagers—"

"You've been creating _cures _for diseases shinobi thought were fatal for hundreds of years." Sasuke scoffed. "You've been defeating notorious crime organizations, and creating antidotes by the dozen. On top of that, you're a kunoichi. Are you enjoying making me spell it out for you? Do you see why she chose you now?"

Sakura blinked. _Did Sasuke just compliment—But—_"I…I wasn't… I thought it was just something everybody.. And it wasn't just me, lots of Konoha ninja have—" She trailed off.

"You're not the only choice. But you would be obvious." Sasuke said pointedly. "Do you really… not know?"

She shook her head, still feeling uncomfortable at the sudden confrontation of her work. She had many medically-related achievements, but they were only a drop in the bucket in the history of Konoha so she had never thought much of it. "OK. So let's just say that's why she chose me. Why are you here then? If she just wants my autograph—"

"Haruno, don't joke. You think this is funny?"

"Sorry. But why make the effort to drag you here?"

Sasuke glanced up slowly in the darkness, surveying the ceiling above them. "Maybe I'm her insurance you comply."

His companion froze. Sakura's eyes widened.

"I know what I'm here for."

Sakura smiled bitterly. "Don't tell me… does that hurt your Uchiha pride?"

"Hardly. I'm not the one guaranteed to die an excruciating death. On the other hand, my purpose in life can continue after this meaningless encounter. Yours can't."

"Do you even know what my purpose in life is?"

Sasuke paused. _But why would I care?_

"You don't know. And you don't care." She guessed.

_How had she guessed? _He started, and quickly glanced sideways at her in the cell. He was reassured she couldn't see him.

"It's obvious. I'm pathetic to you, but to someone else, you're more pathetic than me." Sakura said softly. "What makes you think you're better? You might be a better shinobi, but using your talents to pursue someone to kill them is hardly a noble goal. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know what I want in life. But after I became a med-nin, my job gave me more satisfaction and happiness about my own life than I could have expected from the miserable little girl I was."

He turned his head, fixated at the pink hair which sat across from him.

"Do you know how miserable I was around when you left? That was a pretty good definition of pathetic, and I knew it. Even my friends thought I was pathetic. _Why would you wait for a traitor? He chose his own path, he wouldn't even come back with us, you have to choose yours now._ Only Naruto understood. After a while, Naruto and I hardly saw each other anymore, and before I left for the mission, we hadn't even had a chance to catch up.

"Depressed, and full of the typical teenage angst, I was lost. My civilian parents could do nothing for me, they didn't even know the pit my mind was pulling me into. I sank into the clinical term of depression, yet I made sure no one knew." Sakura said blandly.

"You would never know what it feels like to please everyone on the outside, but to just hate yourself on the inside. It's a weird kind of experience. Having to lie to friends, reassuring them you're okay. I'm not even sure why, I just knew I had to lie." She shook her head. "But at least I learnt to pull myself out of it. At least I've become stronger, at least I was lucky enough to enjoy the life I had. To be able to heal people with my own hands, my own power, my own knowledge and abilities, that was enough for me. So I guess you're right, if I die here, I'll never get to continue my purpose in life, whereas you could, theoretically, keep chasing after Itachi to kill him."

She turned to him in the darkness. "But still, instead of you pitying me, I think I should pity you."

Sasuke let out a small snort. "How did you know I didn't have good times in my life?" He turned a piece of straw between his fingers, thoughtfully.

"Does it matter in the end, when they drag both of our cold corpses out? No one will actually give a damn, not your Konoha friends, not Naruto, not anyone you care about. They'll never know."

"Now that's just pessimistic—"She blinked, and her gaze froze. "Wait, you said _both of us_..."

If what Sasuke said was true, then she was a very vulnerable target right now. A vulnerable target destined to die a painful, excruciating death.

A dull pain threatened to break free from inside her mind, and the air suddenly smelled like fear, filling up her senses.

She heard Sasuke return from the other side of the cell, and plop a tray of delicious smelling food in front of her.

Sakura glanced up, and green eyes met dark red ones.

"I'm assuming you know what to do with food." He said dryly, as he broke his gaze from her searching, somewhat blind eyes.

She hesitated. "I… finished mine." Despite her efforts, she remembered the lone slice of tomato he left her _... at the hotel.. _She blinked.

Sasuke stood up, and she heard him walk back to his side of the cell.

"I'm not the one with the paralysed back who has to crawl everywhere."

Sakura shook her herself out of her memories, scowling. "You also have injuries."

"Eat and then heal me with your chakra."

"I-I… fine! Don't eat then." She paused, licked her lips, and dived into the bowl of food, attacking it viciously.

Sasuke picked up another piece of straw, twirling it between his fingers thoughtfully. He remembered a hazy memory from an unclear, distant time. As he unconsciously unlocked the scene, it filled his mind with sunshine and the rare sound of laughter of a small pink-haired girl, a blond boy and himself.

_How odd, _thought Sasuke.

(+++++++++++++++++++)

Sasuke's eyes flashed open. He bolted up at the sound of a high-pitched scream.

The scream came from Sakura, who was convulsing on the ground, on the other side of the cell. He walked toward her, turning on Sharigan to inspect her vital signs.

His eyes widened.

What was this foreign chakra spiking through her chakra system? It sourced from her back.

_Is she trying to control Sakura with the senben poison? _Sasuke crouched down next to Sakura.

He reached out a hand to touch her back.

She hissed, and lurched forward, clawing at his arm, catching him by surprise. In mid-movement, she froze, and fell backwards, screaming in pain.

Slowly, Sasuke retreated, holding his arms safely behind him, and sat down. Dark eyebrows knitted together in confusion, curiosity. He was not backed enough in the shadows to be completely safe from whatever demented pain was going on in Sakura's mind.

"Sakura…

"Are you turning into a dog?"

No answer.

_Still, pain is the body's natural warning sign. At the incredible rate of pain she's feeling, her body will collapse soon. _

He remembered to his last memory of Sakura, when she was gulping down the plate of food he left for her. Her pink hair, dirty, was matted over her face. Yet, her eyes.

Glowing, green, fierce. And slightly amused.

Not the eyes of someone who deserves to be lost to a painful death.

_What's wrong with me? _Sasuke gritted his teeth. _Two days in a cell and it's affecting me mentally. I can't let my entire world sink down to her level. I have more to do in this world. She is but a soon non-existant part of my destiny. _

Then, she grew quiet.

_But, if she is no longer alive, it only perpetuates the process of elimination for Madame. I will surely become the next copy. More likely, the senben poison was a test-drive to see if Sakura can even handle being a copy for future clones. _

_If she dies, there is no question I will be the next. _

Sasuke pushed away the possible faults in his deduction. _I wasn't even part of the plan—The senben wound was meant for Sakura all along. In the forest, I took the senben wound for her, and she was foolish enough to take it back. _

_For my goals, I must make sure Haruno doesn't die. _

He dug his nails into his fists. _There's something wrong with the way I'm thinking. I can't lose my rationality. _

He glanced up at Sakura through locks of dark hair. "Don't bite me." He said with what he presumed was a calm, authoritative tone. "I don't know if you've turned into a dog yet."

He was almost relieved to hear a soft whine.

He knelt down, within touching range, of the slumped girl, who was shuddering silently. "Don't grab my arm again. Or I'll slice you to pieces with the fork." He said half-heartedly—_Why am I helping her?—_"It's most likely a test on your body. Madame's controlling all of this, with her chakra." Sasuke explained.

"She is performing multiple jutsus at once on you, perhaps to establish your resistance and tolerance levels. That's why it hurts. If you want to live past three days, you should have _minimal _resistance to all her tests. Or you'll be in a lot of pain."

She let out a small sound of conversation. "I don't... understand.."

Cautiously, Sasuke leaned in.

"Why… tell me…? The scroll…is a secret…"

He turned, her face beside his. His eyes raked over her face, and through flickers of glowing green, there was a white mist creeping upon her iris.

Carefully, he tilted his head, and used two fingers to pry her eyelids open, gently. "Knowledge is power, it can be shared in times of danger. We…have a bond, right?" He cringed at the vulnerability of the word 'bond', and shook his head.

He frowned. "The mist is Madame trying to control your mind, the bare beginnings are starting to take place."

"Why… would she..? I'm already here, aren't I?" Sakura coughed out, and spat out a mouthful of blood. "And was I unconscious before? I had a dream that I was stuck in a dark room, and I…couldn't…" She trailed off.

"Perhaps I smell like an encyclopedia?" Sasuke retorted in mild irritation, and then took a deep breath. "The operation isn't as simple as drawing the essence of someone and placing it into clones. It's not like baking, it's hinged upon hundreds of jutsus being performed in a specific order. One wrong move from you, the original copy, and everything collapses. Even for a willing victim, he must be patient and resilient to pain, waiting, and utter lack of food and water."

"She is going to test you three-quarters to death to find out the guarantee she needs that you are the one. Then, she will bring back the three-quarters to your full health, to finish you entirely." He regarded her solemnly.

Sakura moaned softly. "Better … to know, you… said?"

He stared at the dark spot on the stack of straw, and the small spots trailing back to the girl lying weakly on the ground.

_Weak. Pathetic. _

In a sudden burst of effort, she sat upright against the wall.

His gaze moved with her, as she began coughing violently, clutching a handful of straw. She turned her body away from him.

When the spasm subsided, Sakura took deep breaths and spat out another mouthful of blood. "Go on…" She gasped. "…mock me. Isn't that.. what you're thinking?"

He said nothing. Unconsciously, his fists tightened, and his eyes hardened.

"_But._ For as long… as I live, I won't_ let her_ take over me… The same way you… couldn't let Orochimaru take over you." She slowly took another long breath. "The longer I hold ... no, they'll find us…"

"They?"

His question was lost as she bit her lip in pain, struggling to stay upright, beads of sweat beginning to plaster her pink hair to her forehead.

"You shouldn't put any hopes in them. With Naruto and Shikamaru leading, I'm surprised they're not in Sand right now." He scoffed.

Sakura involuntarily let out a shudder. She tried to suppress it, and imagined all the pain materializing as smoke flowing away from her body. She ignored Sasuke professionally still examining her using his Sharigan, and she concentrated on dissipating the pain.

When it subsided, she opened her eyes.

"Her chakra is still there, there's only so long you can hold off your pain sensors, Haruno."

Sakura woodenly stared straight ahead. "I lost my senses for a bit, didn't I? I don't remember."

Sasuke sighed. "You did. Focus on something that drives you. Pick only one. That's the most painful way, and coincidentally the only way, to resist. Until that memory is torn to shreds by Madame ravaging your mind, you will still, painfully, be you."

The ghost of a smile graced her pale lips. "The only way." She whispered, and paused.

"Thanks…Even if it's just… deciding to come over here. I'm grateful… not alone."

Sasuke stiffened, as he remembered the same words echoed in his mind. Another painfully bright, distant, hazy scene was filled with green grass, and he was stretched out next to his brother, thinking those thoughts. _Not … alone. _

He blinked. _How pathetic. _

Shoving his thoughts violently aside, Sasuke unclasped his outer garment. In a fluid motion, he draped it over the small girl, who froze.

"Don't move." He ordered, standing up.

He clutched handfuls of straw, and built them in a fort around Sakura. He gathered straw from all corners of the cell, not meeting her eyes as he stiffly set them down one after the other.

When Sakura was nearly covered in haystacks, he stopped. He paused, hearing the even breathing.

A icily cold hand grazed his arm, and he turned.

Her large green eyes, innocently curious, were fixed on his. She tilted her head to the side, asking the silent question he didn't know himself.

"Don't worry." He stared blankly as Sakura suddenly smiled, softly. "As long as I live… you live. I know. I…won't… give up."

She glanced to the side. "Even Sasuke… you have this day… depending on _me._" She shook her head, and stared back at him, green eyes glowing in amusement. "Must suck for you, bastard."

Before he could stop himself, Sasuke reached out and ruffled her hair.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

His stare lingered on her. But he quickly took his hand back.

"Rest."

"Hmm." She replied softly, closing her eyes as she leaned against the straw.

==(+++++++++++++++++)==

The hinges clicked, as a small flap of metal from the door opened. A small bundle of clothes were dropped off.

Sakura opened her eyes to the sound. Cautiously, her cat-like green eyes strained to see in the dark. She slowly sat up, gasping as her back cursed at her with pain.

She dragged herself to her feet, sliding her feet on the floor.

A warm hand stopped her, and she flinched, glancing up into the dark eyes of Sasuke. She realized the warmth came also from his arm, and saw the dim glimmer of more of his pale skin in the dark.

For a brief second, Inner Sakura emerged to request more light in the cell to better see the… walls, of course. She recoiled, disgusted with herself. _Stop it. _

Sasuke blinked in confusion as Sakura shrank away from his touch. He approached the bundle, and saw it was an innocent bundle of clothes. There were 2 sets, one for each of them.

"Clothes." He threw the pack to her.

Sakura caught it, and glanced down at the bundle in her hands. They were bare cotton, yet they felt soft and comfortable to her hands.

She hesitated.

"Can you… like, kick the wall or something to let me know you're turned around—" She started, feeling foolish, and trying to stop the heat rising to her cheeks.

From the other side of the cell, her companion let out a sigh of amusement. "Haruno, you're worried about me peeking? At you?"

Sakura glared.

"—with your half-tattered shirt, I've seen more than I wanted to in the past few hours—and compared to the other women I've met, it's not very impressive—" His voice scoffed from the other side of the cell. "But _fine. _If it pleases you."

"Can you see me?" The sound of his hand hitting the brick wall echoed across the chamber.

"I… not really, I'm… OK, fine! That's fine." Sakura let out a sigh of frustration, as she turned to face the wall. The dress settled comfortably unto her shoulders, and her back, and she found an elastic to tie up her pink hair with.

Delicately, she tied up the cloth ribbon around her waist, holding the dress in its position. She cringed as her back protested to her movements, she took a deep breath.

Sasuke finished changing, and turned, freezing to watch her. Her skin, it glowed in the dark. Her pink hair, it fell down in strands from the bun she tied it into. He saw how painfully slow her movements were, but there wasn't anything he could do about that.

Her back was dotted with scars and wounds, _his wounds, _as well as her own. The senben wound had spread in a white, thin spiral along her spine.

He remembered that night…

…_He was in so much pain, his back stung like as if electricity struck him, and his hands and feet were cold as ice. His throat was parched with thirst, yet he could not utter a word to ask for water. In the painful headache, he saw his father looking at him disapprovingly, then his mother making his favourite tomato dish._

_Cherry trees in the yard, pink petals falling slowly. _

_A dark blue shirt, a small Uchiha fan. _

_In a flash, he was in a dark cell. _

_Alone. _

_Orochimaru's voice came out of the darkness… "It's all for your benefit, Sasuke. I'm only trying to help you." _

"_Bullshit." Sasuke spat out, his heart thumping wildly in his chest as he tried hard to breathe. Snakes slithered around him, squeezing his throat tighter and tighter until he spluttered. He forced himself not to panic as the air was slowly squeezed out his lungs, as he sank lower into the ground. _

_A door opened, and a green glow pooled out of it like a liquid, and it flowed unto the floor, dissolving his memories of the past. The cell disappeared, and he could breathe again. _

That green glow, the same one glimmering from the other side of the cell… it _saved_ him. It was warm, and welcoming. It guided him away from darkness…

If only for one night.

"These clothes, they're amazing. They don't feel like normal clothing, it's like they're rigged with a comfort jutsu or something." Sakura said in wonder, patting the sleeves. "Madame must have really good quality tailors."

Sasuke glanced up, and said stonily, "They're just clothes. Why are you suddenly so impressed by her?"

The large, calm green eyes blinked in surprise. "I'm not impressed, really... I'm just saying it's such a luxurious change from before."

"Hn."

"Come on, Mr. Grumpypants. I feel so much better, suddenly. I wonder what this is made of." Sakura smiled.

Sasuke's eyes followed her eyes as she searched around the cell in the darkness for him. "Emo Prince, do you have any food left?"

He frowned.

In a smooth movement, he stood up soundlessly. Sighing, he swept a plate of food from his side of the cell, sliding it in front of Sakura's glowing eyes.

"Thaaanks." She grinned widely.

"What's wrong with you?" He grumbled, watching her eat ravenously out of the corner of his eye, as he marched back to his side of the cell and plopped down, contemplative.

=====(+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++)=====

Sasuke couldn't sleep.

He did not know what time it was outside, there were no temporal cues within range. Something nagged the back of his brain, and he couldn't help feeling watched. Closely monitored by someone he couldn't see.

The feeling raised his alarm every time he began to feel drowsy, and he could not sleep.

A soft clicking sound caused him to sit up. His eyes slanted to Sakura, who appeared still fast asleep.

Sasuke's ear twitched. _Footsteps. Down the hallway._

"It's safe, right? You sure we don't need more armour?"

Dark orbs shifted back to the cell, as the sound of a lock being clanked open echoed across the walls.

"I told you, it's cool. Chill, okay?"

"How could you stay around those filthy ninjas for so long? I would have killed them in their sleep, they're so noisy and smelly and an _Uchiha! _They're the worst of the—"

"Shhh—I've opened it. Stay behind me."

Sasuke closed his eyes as beams of light from the hallway hit the dark cell. He opened his eyes a crack, to see the hallway lit by torches and three huge locks on the door.

"These are the filthy ninjas Madame was talking about…" A small boy said to another. "I just want to stick a kunai—"

Dark red eyes showed from a corner in the cell, and the small boy stopped talking, swallowing hard.

"W-wake up! We're here to take you to Madame." He ordered authoritatively, while taking a step backwards.

Sakura stirred, awake. She sat up painfully. "Madame… wants to see us?"

"That's right. It's your honour, you filthy pink-haired ninja! Quick, up on your feet! Hurry now!" The small boy said roughly, pointing to Sakura.

"Honour, my ass." Sakura scoffed, rolling her eyes. "If she wants to see us, she should drag her silver head of hair here. I'm not going anywhere. Are you going to make me?" A dim green glow echoed around her fingertips.

The small boy gasped, and his companion, who had been silent all this time, spoke up wearily, "That's not your choice, Sakura-neechan."

Sakura's eyes widened, and she glanced slowly at Katin, her eyes focusing slowly in the darkness.

The green glow vanished.

"_Katin._"

"Sakura-neechan." He nodded politely. "Please comply, or we'll have to use force."

Sakura's eyes widened, then narrowed.

"I _trusted you_."

Her jaw moved as she glared. "_I_ _taught you. _I taught you—what—to lie? To be a deceptive, _little, double-faced_—rat! I—" She began coughing, and was alarmed to realize she couldn't stop.

"What are you waiting for, Katin? Just get her up already—" He reached forward to grab Sakura.

"Thirty-Six, don't—" Katin began.

Red eyes glowed in the darkness.

In a flash, the clone was knocked backwards, and he crashed into a pile of straw. Katin pursed his lips, otherwise motionless. He stood face to face with Sasuke, who stood where the clone was, in front of a stunned Sakura.

She uttered a weak cough. "I didn't need your help…" She mumbled, as she wiped a thin sliver of blood from her lips.

Sasuke spared her a glance.

She saw his disapproving stare at her pathetic state, yet the contempt that accompanied him did not exist as it once did. Before she fully registered this, he reached a hand toward her.

She blinked, and instinctively then took it, painfully and slowly standing up. She glanced down, and gracefully dusted herself off.

She lifted her eyes to glare at Katin. She ordered coldly, "Pick him off the ground. Show me the way."

Katin stared at her a second longer, then turned. He helped the other boy off the ground, who glared at them ominously. Katin nodded at her before going out through out the door first.

(++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++)

"Ah, and we meet again." Her white teeth flashed, a shade lighter than her silver hair. Madame sat on a tall, white chair, in a large, bare room without furniture. The floor was of a cold stone, and the walls were painted silver. It gave off an impersonal and formal atmosphere.

Sakura glared at her silently, watching the two guards on the corner of her eyes. Her condition was terrible, there was no way she would make it, even a few steps. _But if I can get to the cell, Sasuke—_

"Don't even think about it."

She blinked, as Madame stood up from her chair bonelessly, gliding over to the pink-haired girl. "There is so much colour in you, the complete opposite of me. So vibrant, lively." She reached forward, and took a small lock of pink hair. "I like your hair."

Sakura's eyes followed her movements, trying to sense a moment, just a split second of weakness.

She saw a glimmer of movement as one of the boys whispered to the other, and they both headed toward the door, beginning to hold it open.

Lacing her fingers with chakra, Sakura darted forward, sending a punch at Madame's waist. The woman barely seemed to move, yet her punch hit air. Before she could attack again, she felt her body freeze up. Acid burned in her stomach and fire spread across her back.

Gasping in pain, Sakura fell unto the cold floor, unable to move, her cheek hitting the stone as her eyes followed the movements of Madame's silver shoe.

With a soft sound that mimicked a snicker, she crouched down to Sakura's level. She reached forward, pushed a pink lock of hair from Sakura's face, contorted with hatred and pain.

"You are my future clone maker. I control your systems. Especially your chakra system." She smiled coldly, and suddenly her hand fisted a handful of Sakura's hair, forcefully lifting her head up to meet her eyes.

Sakura winced.

"Do you hear me, girl? You try anything like that again, and I will first, kill the last remaining Uchiha bit by bit in front of you. And then I will hunt down your little useless friends, and kill every one of them in front of you." Madame suddenly sighed. "But you see, I'm not going to kill you. Because you will need to be my puppet to make my army of clones."

Sakura breathed raggedly, her neck strained at an awkward angle. "You can do all that, but I still won't let you take over my mind. That's what you need, isn't it? My willing consent for you to take over my mind?" Sakura gritted her teeth against the pain, and continued. "You can take over my physical movements, and control how much pain I feel, but you can't force me to think as you want me to."

Madame's eyes widened, and she glanced down at Sakura, before letting go of Sakura's hair. She stood up.

"You're cute, but don't think I can't break you. I've done it to more mature shinobi before." Madame sat down again, dusting her hands off. "You need to be my next copy, and I need to have your full willing consent by the next half moon. If you can't give it to me, I'll be forced to kill you and I'll use him instead."

"How are you going to ensure I do what you say?" Sakura asked curiously.

"When you consent, we will both sign a seal. It basically guarantees your compliance with the procedures of the operation. That's all, really. You might still be alive at the end, in which case I'll free you of course, and let you do what you want."

"I will also let him go if you sign the seal." Madame added as an afterthought. "I won't need to kill him then, such a hassle." She glanced down at her hands remorsefully. "I hate getting different colours on my hands."

**AN: Thanks for reading! I have a rough sketch of Chapter 15, where Katin and Madame will be described in more detail, as well as Sasusaku interactions, hoping to post in roughly a week. Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, no excuse I can make will really be sufficient haha. **


	15. Chapter 15: Katin's memories

**Chapter 15: Katin's memories**

**AN: Hi readers! First, thanks to Tiger Priestess, for your nice review. I've tried to incorporate a little bit of it in the next chapter, perhaps you can spot it? xD Enjoy the story, disclaimers as usual. **

(++++++++++++)

(+++++++)

(+++)

Sakura trudged slowly down the corridor, blindfolded, guided by someone else.

"I'm crippled," She began tragically, "and you have the heart to put a blindfold on me. Do you _want _your precious clone-maker to crash into a wall and die?" She mumbled, stumbling a little as she walked unsteadily. "Might as well tie up my legs and just carry me, saves me from walking this far."

"You are _so _annoying, you _pink-haired freak_." A childish voice snapped beside her, shoving her harshly on the shoulder.

Sakura bit her lip down in pain, and stumbled winced as he slapped her arm.

"Continuous anger management issues leads to high blood pressure, clinically speaking. Kid, I'd advise you calm down, and—_tell me where there are steps!_" She yelped as she nearly tripped over.

"Stop calling me_ a kid!_" He shouted back, and she felt someone else restrain him.

"Cool it, Forty."

"Then get her to _shut up, _Katin!"

His companion sighed heavily.

A door creaked open, and Sakura was dumped down unto the ground. "She is _such _a weird ninja, they are so loud and rude!" She heard faintly, as the door slammed shut.

"Hypertension." She grumbled back as one last act of defiance.

Sakura let herself lay there with her cheeks pressed to the cold floor, and closed her eyes.

"What's wrong with you now?" A deep voice asked from the depth of the cell.

She stayed motionless. "Nothing. Let me be."

He walked slowly toward her, and stood over her silently.

She closed her eyes, and felt something wet slid down her cheek.

He knelt down beside her. She felt deft fingers loosening the rough knot, and her hands were suddenly free. His hands moved over to the back of her head, where he gently untied the blindfold.

Grabbing the rope and the cloth, he suddenly threw them against the door, making scruffed sounds as they crashed with force against the metal.

"Thanks." She mumbled weakly.

He stopped, glancing down at her. Even in the darkness, his keen eyes picked up a trail of tears leaking from her closed eyes.

"What did she say this time?"

Sakura didn't reply.

"Sakura. Now is _not _the time to be sentimental. _Tell me._"

"I'm tired, Sasuke." She finally replied in a small voice. "I'm very confused."

"Confused." He repeated blankly. "About?"

"I don't know. How I'm going to die? I can't think of any way out of this." Sakura replied warily.

"What did she say?" He patiently asked again.

"Just, stop. Stop asking me. I don't know. Just stop—caring. You don't need to. That's not part of the deal, you're confusing me." She paused. "Heck_, everyone_ is confusing me. First you, then Katin then Madame and then all these stupid little clones… I'm _just one person_, I can't handle all this stress, what am I supposed to do?"

"You are supposed to stop taking it on yourself. It was not your stress in the first place." Sasuke cut in. "Talk to me. Tell me what Madame is trying to force you to do. I _know_ the jutsu, I can help you."

He reached for her, and she shrank away, but he grabbed her hand.

"Listen to me. If you die, I die. I need you to live, so stop trying to kill yourself, Sakura."

He held out his other hand to her in the darkness. "Come on."

In the dark, her meager vision informed her of the hand, and she hesitated. _What if it's a ploy to get me to trust him, knowing what I felt for him before? What if he's just using me, as before? _ She thought to herself. _He has no sincerity. I shouldn't trust him. _

But she had no one else to trust, and nothing to lose.

"I don't know what you're up to anymore, Sasuke Uchiha." She said wearily, as she took his hand. He pulled her upright, and helped her to sit against a wall.

"Start from the beginning. Any information could be useful." He said patiently.

"So she took me to this white room, five corridors down from here…" She began slowly, recollecting her thoughts.

(++++++++)

"… and then I was led back here." Sakura finished, and coughed once.

"The same way you came?" Sasuke inquired.

Sakura frowned in concentration. "I think it was longer the way back. They may have taken a detour, Katin was leading."

"She gave you a deadline." Sasuke pointed out. "That means her time is running out too."

"I should appear to consent, then blame my body's conditions and ask for more time before signing." Sakura suggested.

"That might work. The longer you wait, the more frustrated she will become. When she becomes edgy, that's when you have the most leverage on your side." Sasuke added.

"Leverage for what?"

"Asking her to release me."

(+++++++++)

Katin sighed, leaning against the closed door of a small, dark room. He glanced down at the cold, stone floor and felt its coolness against his bare feet.

He lifted his head, and eyed the room.

Briskly, he walked across the room to a desk by a small window. As he plopped down on an armchair facing the desk, he glanced back at the only security camera in his room, blinking a steady, orange-red light.

He turned back, and sank down lower into his chair, hands resting on the sides of the chair, a shade tenser than usual. He closed his eyes, and memories flashed across his mind.

_It was a dark cell, and he wasn't the only one inside. They were surrounded by the numerous glows of the steady, orange-red lights from every corner. The large, cold cell was teeming with security cameras. _

_But it was also teeming with other beings more sinister. _

_It was filled with 'newborn clones', although clones were technically 'born' with advanced emotional maturity. _

_Occasionally, clones 'malfunction': sputtering non-sense, screaming, clawing, biting and attacking others, trying to lessen the pain of their contorted or malformed chakra systems. Sometimes, there would be spontaneous explosions, and none of the clones knew when they would get to leave the dark prison of pain and death. _

_They were constantly monitored via cameras by Madame and her team of chosen shinobi, and when they were deemed fit and free from 'bugs' or malfunctions, they would be allowed out of the cell. _

_Katin awaited his 'test day' patiently, the day where he would be deemed ready by the careful screening by Madame through the security cameras. He did not wonder, like the other clones, if they would ever reach that day. _

_He knew he was ready, from the moment he was conscious. He knew he was perfectly healthy, and that he was different from the others. He discovered at an early age, that he had distant memories of a faraway land that his fellow clones had no idea of. _

"_You don't remember, a red brick house?" The curious and eager child once asked, naively. "Madame was there, with us… Or maybe not you, but someone who looks like me. So it has to be one of you…" He trailed off, noting the dangerous glint beginning to light up in the clone's eyes. _

"_How do you have memories I don't?" The clone snapped. "Are you mal-functioning?" _

_Katin blinked, and shook his head slowly. "I.. I don't think so." _

_The other clone inspected Katin closely for a moment. _

"_You're not—you're not one of us. I don't think." The clone said gravely. "I've been watching you, and I think you're smarter and stronger. You have a sort of substance none of us possess." He leaned in, and whispered, "If you want to live, you should keep your mouth shut about those memories. Erase them. You're never going to get an answer from any one of us, the only person who can tell you is Madame." _

_Katin stared at him, almost an exact replica of himself. He turned away, and retreated to a corner of the cell. _

_Several days later, the clone mal-functioned. _

_Katin watched his limp body being dragged out by two white-clothed figures, as the rest of the remaining clones watched with a hushed, desperate silence. Their eyes moved with the door as it clanked shut, and each feared for themselves. _

_No one wanted to mal-function. But no one knew for sure if they would ever get out. _

_No one except Katin. _

_The day his 'test day' came, he was expecting it. _

Katin opened his eyes. He didn't remember dozing off. But the memories were real. It's just that he'd forgotten about them for a while.

Madame was kind to him. She never asked about his memories, although there was a good chance the security cameras picked up on his conversation with the clone. However, he never acted differently from the clones.

Most clones age at the same rate as humans. However, there were so many mutations some clones age at different rates, yet they retain all their mental and physical functions even at older ages. They also have constant "clean-up" days, where their memories are communally erased through Madame's control of their chakra systems.

It never worked for Katin, and that was why he still remembered the lady, that orange-haired man, the janitor, the cleaning staff, shinobi who examined him occasionally, the other ninja who worked with Madame. They disappeared, one by one, all gradually replaced by clones who aged at different speeds.

Soon, he could no longer tell who had been with him in the cell and who had been there longer. Talking to any one was the same as talking to any other clone. He grew more silent, and tried harder to be like them.

Madame favored him like her own child. He wasn't sure why, but he wasn't scared of her as the others were. She occasionally singled him out, and he was always wary of the reason.

None of the other clones were friendly to him. None of them understood him.

Madame was the closest thing to a friend or a mother he ever had.

Then, there was Sakura-neechan.

(========+++++++++++++========)

"I still don't trust them." Naruto mumbled to Shikamaru under his breath, as they hopped from a branch to another branch.

His team leader nodded. "I know what you mean, but we don't have a choice." They both glanced toward the red-haired Karin, who was leading, mumbling with her hands in the shape of a rare hand jutsu.

"I have to say, although surprising, the red-head is pretty amazing." Ino piped up from behind them, a tree away. "She hasn't been sleeping for a week, and her chakra's still going strong."

"Whatchu Leafies grumbling about? We're the ones who have been kept up by Karin and her stupid tracking jutsu." Suigetsu drawled, gaining speed unto the Leaf party. "I swear, if we do find Sasuke, the first thing I'm going to do is slap the bastard somewhere far away without sunshine and without women."

"Like what, underground?" Naruto scratched his head. "But didn't we assume he is already being kept underground?"

"Shut up, blondie." Suigetsu snapped, then paused as Ino glared at him. "Yes, well, _both_ of you."

"Suigetsu, don't take out your PMS on the leaf ninja. Save your energy for finding Sasuke-kun." Karin turned to them, slowing down, and said wearily.

"And S-sakura-chan." Hinata added with a fierce determination, her small figure accompanying the giant Juugo harmoniously.

"Speak for yourself, you bunch of crazies. I have no emotional bonds to the Uchiha, I'm not a stalker fangirl, and I don't remember swearing loyalty to him." Suigetsu retorted, although he couldn't help glancing sideways at Juugo.

He waited until the other ninja went ahead, before stopping Juugo. "Man, why _are _we here, anyway?"

Juugo glanced back kindly at him. "I wonder, too. But something tells me, for once, I feel inclined to do something that feels right."

Suigetsu snorted. "My sense of righteousness is basically whatever doesn't get me killed. And I'm not sure if this is right." He said in a low voice, pale eyes quickly scanning the trees surrounding them. "You've seen her, she could've killed Katin, she somehow simultaneously teleported Sasuke and cherry blossom at once without our noticing. She's either got a set of jutsus and weird-ass shit I've never seen before, or she's more powerful than we are." He shook his head. "I don't know if I should wager my life on these shinobi from a country I've never trusted."

Turning his head slightly, Juugo surveyed the shinobi who had gotten ahead of them, silently.

"If we slip out now…" Suigetsu suggested, shrugging. "Even if they notice, it's not like we have any obligation to stay. We're no longer a team, Sasuke's probably dead by now and cherry blossom was in no condition to fight, she's probably in so much pain she's near death…" Suigetsu trailed off, an unfamiliar, uncomfortable feeling jamming up his words.

"What if," Juugo said slowly, turning to him with a patient gaze, "It had been Sakura and Sasuke who found us missing? What would they do?"

Suigetsu blinked. He glanced at the shinobi ahead of him, and the red hair flying at the lead of the pack.

_What would… what would they do? Would that bastard abandon us? What about cherry blossom? What would she do? _Juugo's question made Suigetsu uncomfortable.

He finally sighed, and shook his head in disbelief, at a loss of words.

"Hell, I have no idea what they would do." He tried to laugh, and only succeeded in snorting instead. "Well, all I can remember now during the time we were together is that little kid whining everywhere, my back breaking from his fat butt sitting on it, and Sakura's food, Karin's crappy cooking, and Sasuke siding with us when I never expected he would, against Karin. Eating at Ichiraku's… And Sakura stopping the fights before they got too rowdy, but was still good for a laugh…" He shook his head quizzically, "…I guess we were pretty close after all."

Juugo glanced at him peacefully. "All I know, it was the longest time I went without going through fits of killing rampage. It was a peaceful time for me. I might have felt happiness, something I've never understood before. I was accepted."

Suigetsu cringed. "You're getting cheesy, man. All sentimental on me, do I look like a girl to you?"

He paused, then added grudgingly, "I guess it reminded me of back when I had somewhere to go to, or something like that. It felt like some sort of… surrogate family." He coughed uncomfortably. "Don't tell anyone I said that." He shook his head. "What's _wrong _with me?"

"Yo!" A loud voice called out to the duo. "What're you lagging back for? Are you deserting? Too chicken to come along?" Naruto taunted them from ahead.

"Chicken? After this, let's duel it out and I'll enjoy slowly slicing off your head, blondie!" Suigetsu snarled back, jumping up ahead, glaring extra hard to make up for his previously deflated masculinity.

"Sure, but seriously, man, did I just hear you talk about Ichiraku?" Naruto asked, once he got close. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What are you, doing some sort of background check on me?"

"You're full of yourself, blondie." Suigetsu scoffed, still glaring. "Yeah, there was one opened in a town we were in. The chef's pretty new, we went there—"

Naruto's eye widened. "I didn't know that one just opened! It didn't taste like a new chef at all! It was awesome when we had a bowl! Just like the old man makes back in Leaf."

"Veggie Vortex?" Suigetsu asked grudgingly.

"Yeah, man! And Chicken Capiche!"

The two shinobi's gaze connected, but then looked away quickly.

"I'm curious, do they also have weird-ass names in Leaf branches too?" Suigetsu asked, in spite of himself.

Naruto looked annoyed, but chose to explain. "Well, they used to be all normal flavours and stuff, but their menus have been renovated so many time since then. I thought it was really creatie back then. Let me tell ya, when I was five, it used to be…"

Juugo watched them from the back, slightly amused.

(++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++)

"How many more kilometers can you go, Karin-san?" Shikamaru asked, crinkling his eyes as he glanced at the low sun.

The red-haired woman pushed her glasses up her nose. "Let's put it this way. I don't need sleep."

Suigetsu groaned. "But I do! And my hydration, I need to find water sources or else my skin gets all pimply and crinkly and—"

"I guess I can eat my sack of ramen on the go—" Naruto was reasoning.

"You still have ramen left, kid?" Suigetsu turned to him with a sudden glee.

"Yea, it's Ichiraku's brand. Vegetable flavoured."Naruto said, suspiciously narrowing his eyes. "Why?"

"It's the best! The one flavour I can't stand is eel, it smells like cannabalism."

Naruto gasped, and clutched his sack. "Me too! It tastes all yucky and gross and way too salty, it doesn't even taste like ramen!"

The two shinobi's eyes connected, and there was a moment of mutual understanding.

"Want half?" Naruto offered graciously.

"Thanks, man." Suigetsu replied, and paused. "Maybe you Leaf bunch aren't too bad after all."

Ino rolled her eyes, glancing back. "The two idiots have just become a team. Oh, joy."

"Better than fighting amongst ourselves." Shikamaru heaved a sigh of relief. "Our forces are combined, but it's still all we've got. We don't know who.. or what.. we're facing, it's risky to have bumps in our own alliance." He sighed again. "How troublesome. If this were a normal mission, we'd be calling for backup."

The blond haired woman glanced at his worriedly through clear blue eyes. "I guess we only have ourselves this time, Shikamaru." She paused, and bit her lips. "I… I'm almost sorry for… dragging you along with me."

He turned to look at her, and she looked down.

"I mean, I've always dragged you everywhere, so I couldn't say it wasn't out of habit this time, and I'm grateful, secretly, that you've…" She took a deep breath. "That you've put up with me all this time. Unlike me, you've got a high position in the village. If you get caught and they want to manipulate the Leaf, you'll be the one they torture first."

Shikamaru let out a soft sigh. "Don't _worry _about it." He drawled casually. "We're a team. Not only me, if Choiji were here, we'd all be in this with you without a second thought. Just because I've gained a higher position in the village doesn't mean I'll put my team second. How troublesome would that make me?"

He paused to yawn. "Stop thinking of troublesome things, you troublesome woman. We're going to make it, and come out with Sakura and Sasuke. When they explain what happened in the clearing, everything will become clear."

Ino nodded. "I hope so. Well, I should save my worrying, it wouldn't do any good." She skipped a few steps ahead, and turned. "Thanks, Shika. You're a good friend."

He blinked, and grinned.

"Ahh, so _you're _the Kyuubi container from the Leaf." Suigetsu said, through a handful of dry ramen. "Do you have anymore water left, Kyuubi?"

"Yea, here." Naruto threw him a water bottle as they continued to hop through the forest. "I guess I am. It's still strange, to be called that, but I guess I'm kinda used to it by now. Have you heard of me?"

"Heard of you? You don't know how many times I've heard Orochimaru talking about trying to capture the fox while I was dying in a glass container underground."

Naruto grimaced, and his eyes hardened. "Orochimaru, huh?"

"I'm not too fond of him either. Not important anymore, of course. Sasuke took care of him." Suigetsu drawled on. "Well, on the other hand, how awesome is that? You just need to channel your inner fox and you will have a clear shot at the top of the shinobi world. Man, all that energy must be nice."

His blond companion shook his head. "It's more complicated than that. It's a part of me I can't use too much, or it'll take control over me."

"Bummer." Suigetsu drawled, then continued on.

"So I heard…" He glanced around, slowly. "You knew Sasuke as a kid? Like, as a snotty little brat before he turned into an emo bastard?"

Naruto glanced at him, a sly smile on his lips. "Why? Anything you're curious about?"

(++++++++++++++++++++++++++)

(++++++++++++++++++++)

(++++++++++++)

"Hit me."

Shaking his head, Sasuke absently let out a long sigh. He sat, back propped against the wall.

His dark eyes broke out of his long stare at the wall, drifting to the pink-haired girl's green, defiant stare.

"I told you. No."

She sighed impatiently. "But I'm getting better everyday. We need to keep in shape for our plan to work."

Sasuke let out an astonished snort, and threw away the piece of straw he was twirling around his long fingers. "I _am _in shape. _You _are a sick patient with chronic back problems who has trouble putting on clothing independently. I will _not _spar with you, Sakura."

"But—"

"No. I refuse. Sparring has no benefits for you. I don't _need_ practice."

"Is it because you don't trust my healing jutsus? My chakra reserve?" She growled, then drawled, "Look, you gave me so much food in the past few days, if I'm not gaining chakra I'm certainly gaining weight. So what is it?"

"Since you cannot see, I'm going to tell you I did not find that funny." Sasuke retorted. "It's not a matter of my perception of you." He paused. "It is the fact that you are in a weaker physical state than I am used to in my opponents, I could cause further damage if we were to spar—"

"Awww," Sakura cooed in a purposefully annoying tone, "sounds like you _care_ about me. How _sweet_. Is the Uchiha finally… _showing emotions_?" Sakura teased, partly trying to provoke his pride to trigger a physical fight, and partly because—well, she was just curious.

Sasuke glared at her, and tightened a fist.

He raised it slowly.

Fixing his eyes on those curious, cautious and determined green eyes, Sasuke slowly brought his fist to her face, fully aware of the green glow building on her left hand.

He suddenly unclenched his fist, waving it in front of her face.

"Can you even see my hand?" He asked, as if she was blind, which was quite true. "You must be half blind by now." He scoffed. "Where is my pride, if I fight a blind girl?"

Sakura's eyes glowed, and her punch came out of nowhere.

Dark hair stopped in mid-air for a moment as Sasuke ducked sideways at the last minute, half-surprised at her speed, just in time to avoid being punched. He shifted, grabbing her wrist as she followed through, twisting it.

She twisted with her arm, sending her legs in for a kick.

Sasuke let go of her arm, and kicked the wall. He jumped to the side, as Sakura punched the air where he used to be. He continued to dodge her punches and kicks until his back touched the other side of the cell.

As her fist hit the wall beside his ear, Sasuke had no choice but to attack. His punches were quick and frequent.

Sakura danced out of his punches, to his surprise, gracefully and too easily for someone with severe back pain. She swirled around to avoid his kick, turning to plant her fist, again, into the air where his shoulder used to be.

He twisted, and kicked, and threw out a plethora of jabs and kicks. She blocked, darted away, swung punches back, and their interactions became rhythmic.

It has been a while since he could remember sparring so comfortably with someone.

She made him remember a time when he did not only fight to kill to disarm.

A time when practicing was for keeping in shape, for a future full of promises, not to survive in a hell-hole in a dungeon.

Before he had gotten used to Orochimaru's slithering, uncomfortable stare every time they trained together, or when he was forced to kill or disarm Orochimaru's men.

In their rhymic sparring, his memories of a peaceful time faded, and he focused on the present, which also felt strangely peaceful.

His breathing grew slightly more labourious, and he could hear her breathing quickening.

"Stop here." He said as he brushed past her punch.

"I'm not tired." Sakura retorted, gritting her teeth.

"Sakura." He repeated, and watched as she summoned up another punch.

Her punch came toward him.

He did not plan to duck.

He raised both fists, and blocked it using his arms. He grimaced as he heard a small crack in his left wrist.

Sakura stopped her punch before the full power hit him, the faint green glow disappearing from her fingers. She retracted her hand, doubling over, panting for breath.

Eyes still fixed on her, Sasuke drew in deep breaths, raising his right hand to swipe dripping locks of hair from his coal eyes. His left arm remained immobile, at his side.

Her pink hair covered her face, and her apple green eyes were hidden from view. He could hear her laboured breathing.

His gaze lingered on her, but he remained silent, and his breathing was calm.

Sakura raised her head, swinging her bangs out of her face. She stood up.

He stayed immobile.

She took a few steps toward him tentatively, and patted the air around him.

"Where's your arm? I can't see exactly, cause apparently I'm _half-blind_."

He blinked. He would never admit it, yet somehow, he expected her to fuss more over his injury.

He had never seen-or noticed—this side of Sakura before. She was fast, and agile, and a strong fighter.

Even in this condition. Even without perfect sight.

_How much… do I actually know about her? _

"Hey, do you want me to fix it or not? I'm sorry about your arm, but you should've dodged." She sighed, finding his immobile left arm finally in the dark. "Sheesh, say something." She laughed, as she began to heal his arm with her chakra.

He glanced down at her. "Your ninjutsu…"

She nodded. "Ah, yep. It's improved quite a bit since you've left. Lady Tsunade taught me ways to improve chakra storage, and that's helped with the force of the punches." She grinned up at him, eyes twinkling mischeviously. "I'm better, aren't I? You're sooo impressed, right?"

"—Your ninjutsu's terrible." He retorted. "I could've killed you by accident, out of reflexes when you attacked."

The smile lingered on her lips. "I'm sorry. That was reckless of me." She paused. "Thank you, though." She added humbly. "It was a good practice."

He nodded, and glanced sideways. "How much can you see without activating chakra vision?"

"Not much." She admitted. "I had to waste a lot of chakra and careful sensing to detect where you were in the dark, and where your punches were coming from."

"Hn."

"Your arm is healing nicely, even without my chakra healing you." Sakura tried to be nonchalant, but she worried a little, as the green glow flowed from her fingertips unto his arm.

She pushed the thought away.

"So how long…do you think we have?" was the only other topic she could think of.

Sasuke glanced up at the ceiling, flexing his hand, watching her heal his left wrist. "A few days, at most." He glanced down at her. "You think?"

"Same." She sighed, and yearned to sit down, her back beginning to ache again. She thought of telling him how it hurt more each time she used chakra these days, possibly a sign of Madame's growing power, but decided against it. He would be even more unwilling to spar with her then.

Sasuke's dark eyes shifted over her face, and noticed the dews of sweat appearing lightly on her temples. Slowly, taking her arm, he sat her down on the straw ground.

Green eyes blinked up in surprise at him, and she searched for his face in the darkness.

"There. Your arm is fixed now." She said quickly, and moved back toward her corner of the cell.

He watched her move slowly and carefully, her movements sharpened yet restricted by pain. Something made his hand clench, yet his expression was blank.

(+++++++++++++)

Katin was alone in the room.

On the wooden table in front of him lay the materials for preparing a specific jutsu.

This jutsu was one of the hundreds they had to prepare for the upcoming ceremony. He was on a strict deadline, otherwise they could miss the expiration date of the first one, which they had started working on years ago.

He took up the brush, and began the first stroke.

As he worked, an image of Sakura's face drifted into his mind. She was cheerful, youthful, and kind. Before her, he had settled for Madame's orders and luxurious presents, taken them as the maternal care he vaguely sought throughout his young life.

He was different from all the other clones. He had the chance to experience what it was like to be truly cared for by someone else.

Even if for a short period of time, and even if it was through his deception.

He paused mid-brushstroke.

_Well, it wasn't all deception. By age, I do have the years of a child. However, in terms of emotional maturity and intelligence, mine greatly surpasses that of any typical child my age. _He reasoned.

He read a line of the jutsu he just copied, and images flashed across his mind.

_-Madame smiled coldly, and suddenly her hand fisted a handful of Sakura's hair, forcefully lifting her head up to meet her eyes. –_

_-"Do you hear me, girl? You try anything like that again, and I will first, kill the last remaining Uchiha bit by bit in front of you. And then I will hunt down your little useless friends, and kill every one of them in front of you."—_

Katin's eyes hardened. Another memory flitted across his mind.

_-Sakura's green eyes flashed. _"I _trusted you_."

"_I taught you. I taught you—what—to lie? To be a deceptive, little, double-faced—rat! I—" _

He took a deep breath.

The woman who he owes everything he has to, or the woman who showed him true kindness. Was he even given a choice? He remembered that one afternoon in the bright green forest in the outskirts of the town, where he brought Sakura the wounded bird…

He remembered the joy and disbelief when he saw the bird open its auburn eyes, and feebly flap its wings.

He remembered how his heart soared, for the first time that day, when he saw it take off into the air.

It was Sakura who taught him that he didn't have to kill and hurt all the time to have self-respect. She taught him that more than merely brute power lay within his reach. He had the ability to heal, to erase the hurt around him, and to lessen the pain of others instead of adding to it.

In the castle where he lived all his life, he was taught that respect was earned by being the one beating others up instead of the one getting beaten up. With clones whose memories were erased continuously, keeping them respectful was a constant chore.

But healing, that was a gift he never imagined he could have.

Yet all he can do in return is write the jutsu that will one day, kill Sakura.

The grip on his brush tightened.

_This feels wrong. _

_Yet I cannot refuse outright, Madame will kill me. _

Katin pretended to proof-read the paper once more.

Nodding, as if finally satisfied, he glanced at the security camera on the wall, from the corner of his eye. It was completing a rotation, and would soon back to monitor him.

He went back to writing, carefully planting stroke after stroke on the paper, counting the time in his head.

Suddenly, his wrist knocked over the bowl of ink, unto the paper.

He stared as it rapidly spread through the entire paper, blotching the parchment and messing up the words. He watched it sink through all the parchment in the stack, mouth theatrically kept open.

He dropped his brush unto the paper in mute shock, creating another pool of paint spreading unto the parchment.

The security camera filmed him flailing his arms, turning his head in both directions, before taking off toward the exit, shouting at the other clones to find Madame.

(++++++++++++++++++++)

"Leave us." Madame said to the guards, and the two clones obediently left the room, closing the door behind them.

Ungracefully, Madame stomped her foot on the white, marble floor.

"I should kill you." Madame muttered, pacing back and forth on the pale dark floor, her silver slippers making no sound as she moved.

Katin kept his head down.

"I really, quite truly, ought to sever your head, Katin." Madame repeated with emphasis.

"I take full responsibility for it."

"Of course you will. But, that's not what I need right now." Madame stopped, and sighed. "How extensive is the damage?"

"The ink soaked through most of the script, and the entire justsu is ruined. The backup parchment underneath are also all damaged." Katin said in a small voice, keeping a calm tone.

"I need a time." She pressed, a hint of impatience in her musical voice.

"The ink will take a week to prepare, the jutsu two days to re-copy. Although we have the parchment on hand, we also need to process it for a day before we can use it." Katin responded.

Madame closed her eyes, rubbing her temples. "A week. Our plans will be set back by a week."

Katin remained silent.

"Do you _understand_ how severe this is?" Madame asked softly, eyes closed. "Do you, Katin?"

He remained silent.

"I'm asking you a question."

"Yes, ma'am. I…I do."

"That means the jutsus after that must be hastened by a week to make up for the time. It means we have a greater chance of failure. It means Sakura could die during this time from her injuries, or she could break and we would have to prepare things for the Uchiha, meaning everything else will have to be redone. Essentially, it means a greater chance of failure. How am I going to explain this to the rest of the numbers?"

"And who did this?"

"I did. It was my fault. I was alone."

"No, you weren't." She opened her eyes.

Katin glanced at her quizzically, swallowing a lump in his throat as he thought of a dark alternative.

She walked over to a microphone. "Bring me Thirty." She glanced back at Katin. "Don't say a word."

Before Katin could respond, the doors opened, dragging in a confused Thirty, who had been patrolling outside the lab.

"Did you spill the ink?"

Thirty glanced at Katin, then at Madame. "No, I didn't, ma'am. Clearly, didn't Katin –"

"Katin said you did it."

Thirty narrowed his eyes at Katin. "He's lying." He paled, and his voice raised half an octave. "You came running out to me, to ask me to get Madame. What's going on? Are you trying to shift the blame to me, you stupid clone?"

"No, let's calm down first, Thirty. No one's blaming you." Madame reassured him, smiling graciously. "Where were you all night? Who was with you?" Madame inclined her head curiously, a smiled gracing her lips coldly.

"I…" The clone glanced around nervously. "I was alone all night… I was guarding the lab, until Katin ran out and told me to call you. He is crazy! He is a stupid liar! I never did anything! I always knew he was unreliable, untrustworthy, that rat…"

Katin watched, his eyes completely blank.

"I…" Thirty was losing his calm rapidly. "I… I…I'm going to kill you, Katin! How dare you poison my name!" He launched himself across the floor.

"How crude." Madame muttered as she walked to the doors, and opened them herself. "Guards!"

As the door closed after the guards who dragged a screaming Thirty out of the room, Madame pressed a button.

"Restrain and dispose, publicly announce the reason for lagging the ceremony by one week. Ask for hastened parchment preparation, make more ink for Jutsu 112, tell them to speed up the process to maximum. Thank you." She said gracefully, and didn't even turn around.

"You can leave now."

Katin stayed where he was.

"That was a command."

Slowly, Katin uprooted himself from the floor, and took a step toward the door.

He paused, then continued in a daze to walk out the door. His fists were clenched tightly.

Madame glanced after him as the door closed, a worried frown on her face.

(++++++++++++++++++++++++)

**AN: Whoa. Did the cool, calculating villian just throw someone else under the van for Katin? Why is that? Any speculations? Did anyone find it strange how all the other clones have numbers for names, yet this kid actually has a name? Hm hm hm... **

**Will update next week! Have a good week in the meanwhile. :) **


End file.
